PAINTED ROCK
their gambling lay-outs. And Hale did not know Smith, because the man had altered so much through his happiness and his grief. Those who saw them meet say that there was but little talk, and that the actual shooting was so swift that no one saw guns drawn till the shots were fired. But Gedge, who had heard that Hale was in town and had the ears of a creature of the forest, caught the first words from the inside of the saloon, and recognised the speakers. He dropped his cards quietly and came out. At that time I was fifty yards away, in the Occidental House.
Hale was now a big and burly man, and very powerful. His forehead was low and his mouth a close line, and there were signs of drink in his face to those who know the lesser signs. He came along the street as if he owned it, and it must be said he owned more than most people knew, for a man who lends money and does it in quiet ways at a high percentage when times are bad, creeps behind the outward names of firms and fattens in the dark. That is why some did not tell him that Smith, who had sold out to him in the
26
