CHAPTER 23If he had taken the eye of the hardened Rix and the still harder Pedlar, he had stunned the men of The Corner. And breathlessly they waited for his proposal to Jack Landis.
He spoke with his hands behind his head again, after he had slowly taken out a handkerchief and wiped his chin.
“I’m a methodical fellow, Landis,” he said. “I hate to do an untidy piece of work. I have been disgusted with myself since my little falling out with Lewis. I intended to shoot him cleanly through the hand, but instead of that I tore up his whole forearm. Sloppy work, Landis. I don’t like it. Now, in meeting you, I want to do a clean, neat, precise job. One that I’ll be proud of.”
A moaning voice was heard faintly in the distance. It was the Pedlar, who had wrapped himself in his gaunt arms and wa
