"My name is Matt King, sir," answered Matt, "and you have no right to refer to me as a rascal."
"I have, by gad," exploded Mr. Lorry, "and a very good right! I've heard about you, sir. You're the lad who was hand-and-glove with the three villains who made George so much trouble on account of this money. I wonder that you have the face to show yourself to me. Do you know what I could do with you?"
A hostile red had leaped into Mr. Lorry's face. As Matt sat back and looked at him, he likened his anger to a "jump spark."
The "make and break" system of ignition, while electrically simple, is complicated mechanically. The "jump spark" system, on the other hand, while complicated electrically is mechanically very simple.
A simple error of some sort lay back of Mr. Lorry's anger, but it found vent in mighty puzzling expressions.
"Who is your authority for the statement that I was hand-and-glove with the three men who robbed George?" asked Matt calmly.
"I decline to quote anybody."
"You can ask McGlory, or George, about me," proceeded Matt, "and I think they will tell you that if it hadn't been for me that money would never have been recovered."
"You have pulled the wool over McGlory's eyes, and over George's, too. But where's my son? Why didn't he bring this money to me himself? Why was it necessary for him to send it at the hands of a stranger?"
"Your son is a few miles out of town. He did not leave San Francisco willingly, and it was only by promising him that we would not take him directly into Madison that we got his consent to come with us."