Tug watched the distant figure for some thoughtful moments.
"He's a great feller," he said at last. But there was no real appreciation in his tone. Then he laughed. "I should say he'd need to be a great feller to get a good-looker girl to come right along up to this devil's playground with him."
Audie's troubled eyes softened.
"He's a great fellow," she said simply.
Tug laughed again.
"I s'pose that's why they call him 'Leo.' Guess most fellers' nicknames have a meaning suggested by their characters. Leo-Lion. Maybe they're right. I'd sooner call him 'Bull.'"
"Why?"
Audie was interested. Yet she understood there was no sympathy, and little enough friendliness in this hard, cynical man.
"Just his way of tackling life." Tug watched the great figure as it came slowly up the slope. His eyes were keen, shrewd, speculative.
"He does tackle it," agreed Audie warmly.