“Why?” Hugh stared in astonishment, for what difference could it make to any one whether he remained in Rudolm or went away?
Jethro sat staring at the ground between his feet and shuffled them uneasily several times.
“That Half-Breed Jake has been at the hotel all evening,” he said at last. “He has been talking a long time about the Edmonds boys and how they have disappeared because they had to. It is true that John’s books at the bank were pretty badly mixed and they have had an expert up to go over them, but nothing has been proved yet, one way or the other. It seemed to me, at last, that Jake talked rather too much. He always hated the Edmonds boys, they were too square and honest and they had blocked him more than once in some of his devilment. If there is a mean or a cruel or a crooked way of doing a thing, he will do it. That’s Jake.”
“But why is every one so afraid of him?” inquired Hugh. “He is only one man against all of you.”
“It is just part of living here to be afraid of
