“Do yuh mean to say that you never collected a reward?” asked Kelsey.

“Never.”

Kelsey laughed shortly.

“You must be pretty ⸺ rich to turn down good money. Cates has told me that you and yore pardner have cleaned up a lot of bad-man outfits, and there’s usually a reward for a bad man.”

“Unless he hides his light under a bushel, Kelsey.”

“Uh-huh. Well, Joe Rich don’t hide his, that’s a cinch.”

Hashknife grinned widely.

“You’ve got to admire him, just the same. He’s operatin’ in his own country, and he ain’t tryin’ to disguise himself a whole lot. And it looks to me as though he’s makin’ a monkey out of yore office.”

“What do yuh mean, Hartley?”

“By stayin’ around here. It don’t look to me as though he was scared of yuh, Kelsey.”