“Pretty hard to have the fool get away and you get caught,” a third suggested. At this they seemed to wait. I felt something curious in all this last talk.
“Oh, did he get away?” said the prisoner, then.
Again they waited; and a new voice spoke huskily:— “I built that fire, boys.” It was the prisoner in the gray flannel shirt.
“Too late, Ed,” they told him kindly. “You ain't a good liar.”
“What makes you laugh, Steve?” said some one.
“Oh, the things I notice.”
“Meaning Ed was pretty slow in backing up your play? The joke is really on you, Steve. You'd ought never to have cursed the fire-builder if you wanted us to believe he was present. But we'd not have done much to Shorty, even if we had caught him. All he wants is to be scared good and hard, and he'll go back into virtuousness, which is his nature when not travelling with Trampas.”
Steve's voice sounded hard now. “You have caught Ed and me. That should satisfy you for one gather.”
“Well, we think different, Steve. Trampas escaping leaves this thing unfinished.”
“So Trampas escaped too, did he?” said the prisoner.