Another man laughed harshly, as he said, "I reckon we don't need to worry about them red-bellies. There's only two of 'em left in Eagle's Nest, and one of them is the inspector."
One of the men in the game looked up at them.
"The killin' of that policeman and Indian in the street was a damn fool thing to do," he declared. "You can buck the Mounties just so long, but they'll git yuh in the end."
"W'at you tink?" grunted the Frenchman. "Yo' t'ink de boss want Monk to go to de jail?"
"He might at least 'a' moved the bodies. Yuh can't bluff the Mounties thataway. Killin' 'em only makes the rest that much worse. I don't like it."
"I'm t'ink de boss know what she want."
Bud averted his head while he thought over what he had heard. McKay and the Indian had arrested Magee and were killed in the street by the boss. Who was the boss, he wondered? If Monk Magee was ringing that warning bell, this must be Magee's place. Then it suddenly dawned upon Bud that this room was beneath Magee's hotel at Kingsburg.
This was where those men had gone that day they had disappeared so mysteriously. No wonder he failed to find them.
"And I didn't have sense enough to keep away from the danged place," he reflected bitterly. "I'm in a danged good place to lose my scalp."
The crowd at the bar were laughing loudly, and Bud turned toward them. One of the kegs had been decorated with a red coat. A bottle had been placed atop the keg, and on the bottle dangled a service hat of the Mounted police.