“Bad for what?” Johnny asked.
“For an officer. Catch a bunch of yeggs pulling a job. Pick ’em off one by one with that bow, like the Indians used to do wild turkeys. And gather them up after. Never know what killed them. I say! We’ll have to add you to our staff!”
They laughed together, then went out to the little restaurant around the corner for their evening meal.
Darkness had fallen when they returned to the shack, yet Drew Lane did not throw on the lights at once. Instead, he guided Johnny to a comfortable chair.
“Let’s just sit and talk,” he said. “I like it best this way, in the dark. You tell me of the wild woods where the North begins, and I’ll tell you of a city where trouble is always just around the corner!”
“Tell me first,” said Johnny quickly, “how you came to be at the pier last night and why you picked me up.”
“Nothing easier,” Drew laughed. “An officer of the law is never fully off duty. Tell you about some of my ‘off duty’ experiences some time. You’ll be surprised.
“You see, last night I strolled down to the pier, just for an airing. Then your ship came in. Thought I’d have a look at anyone who came off. An extraordinarily large number of persons enter our country in this way from Canada and Mexico. Mighty undesirable persons, many of them. So I was on the lookout.
“When I saw you I guessed you were all right. But in our business, guesses don’t go. We must have facts. I got them. You were O.K.”
Drew lapsed into silence.