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CHAPTER III.


AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.


"Who ever saw such a downpour before?" growled one of the three men, as he switched the water from his soft felt hat. "I'm wet to the skin."

"I'm no better off," replied one of the others. "I think we were fools to leave Macklin's place, Gilroy."

"Just what I think, Fetter," said the third man. "We could have waited as well as not."

"Yes, we could have waited, Potts," answered Matt Gilroy; "but, to tell the truth, I don't want to trust Macklin too far. He might play us foul."

"He wouldn't dare to do that," returned Gus Fetter.

"Why not—if he thought he would get a reward?" came from Nat Potts, the youngest of the trio. "One thing is certain, Macklin is crazy to make money."

"I know a thing or two of Macklin's past—

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