“Are you tryin’ get a statement from me?” demanded Jimmy. “English got what was comin’ to him. He backed a thief.”
“I wouldn’t say that to Mallette, if I was you, Moran.”
“A-a-a-aw, go wrap that rag around your head! If English Ed is goin’ to run a den of thieves, he can expect what a thief must expect. If Mallette had done that to me, he’d be in hell right now, ridin’ on the hot end of a bullet! It was me that cramped the half-breed, and I’m sorry I did.”
Jimmy jerked his hat down over his eyes and strode through the room, going straight past the bar, where English Ed and a crowd of men were having a drink. The big gambler knew now what it was all about and he turned his head to watch Jimmy leave the place.
“He got you when you wasn’t lookin’,” said a man.
English Ed nodded slowly.
“Did Mallette steal that card?” he asked.
One of the men from the poker game was at the bar, and it was to him that English directed the question.
“I don’t know,” said the man truthfully. “I wasn’t in the pot, so I didn’t pay any attention.”
“Mallette is getting clumsy,” said English slowly.