"
"Thet's good enough fer ther present time," assented Halloway. "Ef
ye'll loan me thet file, I'll git 'em off myself--later on."
So while the giant stood with outstretched hands, the other filed
through a link at the middle of the chain, and together the four men
left the baggage room and went into the outer office. Its door was
closed but Halloway, who walked ahead, laid a hand on the knob and
paused to inquire, without rancor, "I reckon ye aims ter give me back
my gun, don't ye?"
The operator promptly produced the weapon from the drawer of his table
and Halloway made no examination to see whether it came back to him
full-chambered or empty.
He had his own guess on that score, but he wished to appear
unsuspicious just now, so he thrust the thing into its holster.
Then deliberately he turned the key in the door and that was, for a
time, his last deliberate act. Seizing the fellow who stood nearest
him, he swung him forward and held him as a partial shield before his
own body.
"Thar's three of ye hyar," he announced in an abruptly ominous voice,
"and one of me.
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