Kurt stepped to the door indicated, and, looking into the dining-room, he at once espied his father's huge head with its shock of gray hair. He appeared to be in earnest colloquy with a man whose bulk matched his own. Kurt hesitated, and finally went back to the desk.
"Who's the big man with my father?" he asked.
"He is a big man, both ways. Don't you know him?" rejoined the proprietor, in a lower voice.
"I'm not sure," answered Kurt. The lowered tone had a significance that decided Kurt to admit nothing.
"That's Neuman from Ruxton, one of the biggest wheat men in Washington."
Kurt repressed a whistle of surprise. Neuman was Anderson's only rival in the great, fertile valley. What were Neuman and Chris Dorn doing with their heads together?
"I thought he was Neuman," replied Kurt, feeling his way. "Is he in on the big deal with father?"
"Which one?" queried the proprietor, with shrewd eyes, taking Kurt's measure. "You're in on both, of course."
"Sure. I mean the wheat sale, not the I.W.W. deal," replied Kurt. He hazarded a guess with that mention of the I.W.W. No sooner had the words passed his lips than he divined he was on the track of sinister events.
"Your father sold out to that Spokane miller. No, Neuman is not in on that."