Page:Teeftallow-1926.djvu/294

"Is that young Teeftallow out there?" asked a thick voice.

"Yes, sir."

"You boys—come in here."

With a last flinching that he must see him after all, Abner followed Zed inside.

The room was darkened by green blinds drawn to the bottom of the windows. Mr. Ditmas lay in bed, white and drawn from his debauch. He looked at the two men with unfocussed eyes.

"Abner," he began in his thick tones, "you—surprised at me, I fancy. . . ."

"A little, Mr. Ditmas," said Abner, pained and embarrassed.

"M-m, I can't acchept the loss of sheventeen thousan' an' not feel it, Abner. Had frien's back up—Ohio-way—went in with me—losht their money too. Man can't get his frien's in trouble an' then—then—" He lay staring at the two men at the foot of his bed, apparently pondering deeply; finally, with difficulty he asked, "Wh-what was I talkin' about, Abner?"

"Losing your money, Mr. Ditmas," said Abner in growing depression.

"Oh, yes, money—trouble down here in the hills, Abner, business methods barbarous—game of tricks. Contrack never means what it says—ever' sentence ambush these fellers hide behin' to—to waylay somebody. Tain't right, still, it—it's the way the game's played—down here. . . ."

Again he lay thinking, staring past the heads of the men with a swimming gaze, then with an effort he went on:

"Law's the same way, Abner—civil law, a game of sand-bagging between the clauses of a contrack. Criminal law—a sieve of tec-technicalities that lets ever'thing through. No wonder there are whitecaps; no wonder you got beat in inch of your life, Abner. In land where there's no law people must use other and less precise methods of ret-retribution. S' necessary." He wobbled his head solemnly at the boys