14
◈There in the darkness followed a hurried consultation.
“Ain’t you gunna do nothin’?” asked the sheriff’s assistant. “Are you gunna let him go free, to raise hell with us when he catches us one by one, later on?”
“The law is the law,” declared the sheriff, “which we ain’t got nothin’ agin’ this gent. He says that he was walkin’ around all night amusin’ himself. Which we ain’t got no proof that he wasn’t. And we got to do the provin’! Holden,” he continued, “all I’m sayin’ to you is that we’re watchin’ you all the time and we’re watchin’ you close. If you so much as look crooked, we’ll have you mighty pronto!”
With this warning, spoken in a very unforceful fashion, the men of the law departed from the room and left Holden to his reflections. But whatever they were, he was too exhaust
