The old man studied him for a space of several minutes.
“Angel,” he said slowly, “what does Lila know about this? She wouldn’t marry her own brother. What have yuh told her?”
Angel smiled crookedly and rested his elbows on the table.
“Well, if you’ve got to know—she knows.”
“She knows?”
“I told her tonight.”
“Yuh told her tonight?”
“That you ain’t her father—yes. No, I never asked her to marry me—not yet. But by God, I’m goin’ to ask her!”
The old man got slowly to his feet, disclosing the fact that he wore a holstered gun. Angel also wore one, and the mother-of-pearl handle flashed like an opal in the yellow light. With a twitch of his left hand the old man jerked out a drawer from the table and produced an old deck of playing-cards.
He dropped them on the table and looked sharply at Angel, who was watching him curiously.