Bud shook his head.
"It's a big yarn, an' needs time. But——" He paused, searching the other's face.
"Go right on."
Jeff read through the pause. He waited, his lips firmly set.
Bud cleared his throat.
"I've got to say these things later if I don't say 'em now, Jeff, boy. What I need to tell 'll make you sore, an' I don't guess it's the best sort o' welcome making you sore at your home-comin'. It's the worst of the yarn anyway, an' I kind o' feel it's best spitting out the worst right away. We're up against a gang, a slick gang, organized right, same as——"
He hesitated. But the younger man seemed to have no similar scruples.
"The gang my brother ran."
Bud nodded.
"Some of 'em got clear away—that time."