"Hell, you ain't got nothin' on me," grinned Bud.
"You knew that Magee had a stock of liquor?"
"So did you," retorted Bud. "You know damn well that Magee is responsible for most all of the liquor that comes into this district, but you can't nail him with it. You send one man in there to buck that whole bunch. Don't you know that every smuggler, rustler, bootlegger is on Magee's side? What can one man do?
"You swell out your chest and imagine that the R. N. W. M. P. is all powerful, don'tcha? They ain't. A red coat ain't got a Chinaman's chance in Kingsburg. I know Magee and his outfit. He told me that I was wastin' m' time tryin' t' put the deadwood on him, and that, if I'd quit the force, he'd show me how to make more money than the force ever paid anybody."
Grandon's eyes fairly snapped with anger, but he knew down deep in his heart that Bud was right. Their efforts against Magee had been dismal failures, but he did hate to be told in such plain language. Without a word he turned and went back into the house.
"I reckon his hide ain't as thick as I thought it was," mused Bud. "And I didn't say 'sir' to him once."
He stepped off the porch and headed straight for Beaudet's store. Bud was not the kind that waited for trouble to come to him. His mind was a total blank as to what he had done after taking that one drink, but he felt sure that he had nothing to do with the plight of little Marie Beaudet. He knew that it had been a frame-up, but just why they had included the half-breed girl in it he had no idea. Magee was responsible for the doping, and Bud felt sure that Magee had done it to disgrace him with the Mounted and get him out of the way.
Louis Beaudet and Dr. Clarey were standing near the center of the room, talking softly, while Joe Burgoyne sat on a counter beyond them, staring at the floor. Bud stopped near old Louis, who looked up at him.
"You?" said Louie hoarsely. "You come here—you?"