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Page 47
"Shut up!" came the surly answer.
Fully a dozen men now moved forward. With the single exception of Duff,
each had a cloth, with eye-holes, tied in place over his face.
"My, but this looks delightfully mysterious!" chuckled Tom.
"You be still, boy, except when you answer something that calls for a
reply," ordered Jim Duff, who had dropped all of the surface polish of
manner that he usually employed. "This meeting need not last long, and
I'll do most of the talking."
"Won't these other gentlemen present be allowed to do some of the
talking?" the young engineer inquired.
"They don't want to," Duff explained gruffly. "That might lead to their
being recognized."
"Oh, that's the game?" mused Tom Reade aloud. "Why, I thought they had
the handkerchiefs over their faces because--"
"Shut up and listen!" warned Jim Duff.
"...because," finished Tom, "they wanted me to feel that everything was
being done regularly and in good dime-novel form. My, but they do look
like some of the fellows that Hen Dutcher used to tell us about. Hen
used to waste more time on dime novels than--"
"Shut up!" again commanded Duff. "These gentlemen feel that there is no
need of their being recognized."
"Then why didn't Fred Ransom, of the Colthwaite Company, cover up the
scar on his chin?" retorted Reade. "Why didn't Ashby, of the Mansion
House, invent a new style of walking for the occasion?"
Both men named drew hastily back into the shadow. Tom chuckled quietly.
"I could name a few others," Tom continued carelessly. "In fact--I
think I know you all. Gentlemen, you might as well remove your masks."
"Club him with the butt of the gun, if he talks too much," Duff directed
the bully, who had stepped back a few paces as the men formed a circle
around the young engineer.
"Did you ever try to stop water from running down hill, Duff," Tom
inquired good-humoredly.
"What has that to do with--" began the gambler angrily.
"Nothing very much," Tom admitted. "Only it's a waste of time to try to
bind my tongue. The only thing you can do is to gag me; but, from some
things you've let drop, I judge that you want me to do some of the
talking presently."
"We do," nodded Duff, seeking to regain his temper. "However, it won't
do you any good to attempt to do your talking before you've heard me."
"If I've been interfering with your rights, then I certainly owe you an
apology," Tom answered, with mock gravity. "May I beg you to begin your
speech?"
"I will if you'll keep quiet long enough, boy," Jim Duff retorted.
"I'll try," sighed Reade. "Let's hear you."
"This committee of gentlemen--" began the gambler.
"All gentlemen?" Tom inquired gravely.
"This committee," Duff started again, "have concerned themselves with
the fact that you have done much to make business bad here in Paloma.
You have prevented hundreds of workmen from coming into Paloma to spend
their wages as they otherwise would have done."
"Some mistake there," Reade urged. "I can't control the actions of my
men after working hours."
"You've persuaded them against coming into town," retorted Duff sternly.
"None of the A. G. & N. M. workmen come into Paloma with their wages."
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