“What did you hear?” asked Orde.
“Well, McNeill he agreed to get a gang of bad ones from the Saginaw to run in on the river, and I heard Heinzman tell him to send 'em in to headwaters. And McNeill said, 'That's all right about the cash, Mr. Heinzman, but I been figgerin' on gettin' even with Orde for some myself.'”
“Is that all?” inquired Orde.
“That's about all,” confessed Charlie.
“How do you know he didn't hire them to carry down his drive for him? He'd need sixty men for his lower rollways, and maybe they weren't all to go to headwaters?” asked Orde by way of testing Charlie's beliefs.
“He's payin' them four dollars a day,” replied Charlie simply. “Now, who'd pay that fer just river work?”
Orde nodded at Jim Denning.
“Hold on, Charlie,” said he. “Why are you giving all this away if you were working for Heinzman?”
“I'm working for you now,” replied Charlie with dignity. “And, besides, you helped me out once yourself.”
“I guess it's a straight tip all right,” said Orde to Denning, when the cook had resumed his place by the fire.