uttered. He merely glanced sharply at the man and
snapped a curt question.

"Well, Nelson--any trouble?"

"No, sir. There's been a bunch of them loungin' around outside and
talkin' a lot, I was listenin' to them when you came along."

"Talking, eh? Who seemed to be doing the most of it?"

"Well, sir, I'd say that--"

He was not destined to say it at that moment, however, for his remarks
were interrupted by an incident as annoying as it was unexpected. He
and Varr were confronting each other in the open doorway while they
spoke, and at this point some missile hurtled past their faces and
thudded heavily against the planking of the door, where it burst with
all the enthusiasm of a hand-grenade. Startled, they sprang back;
then, recovering from the shock, they discovered themselves quite
uninjured in body if somewhat damaged in raiment. They were liberally
bespattered from head to foot with the lifeblood of an overripe tomato.

Nelson vented his indignation in a mild oath, Varr relieved his
feelings in an angry snarl. The tanner wheeled swiftly in an effort to
detect the author of the outrage, but his eyes showed him only a small
knot of men, their hands thrust ostentatiously in their pockets, whose
snickers died away as he gazed at them grimly. He grunted
disdainfully, motioned the guard to precede him, and closed the door
behind them as they entered the building. They busied themselves
briefly with handkerchiefs.

"I'd like to have the tannin' of their ugly hides!" muttered Nelson.

"Charlie Maxon was eating a tomato as I came across from the path,"
commented Varr, more to himself than to his companion. "He put his
hands behind his back to hide it from me, but he was too slow. Umph!
He'll wish he'd never seen that tomato, let alone thrown it at me,
before I'm through with him!"

"Maxon, sir?" The mention of the name reminded Nelson of his
unfinished report. "Why, it was him that was doin' all the talkin'!"

"It was, eh? Umph."

"More than that, sir, he was makin' threats."

"Threats! What sort of threats?"

"Nothing very definite, sir, but it sounded to me as if he'd be glad
enough to set fire to this place if he got a good chance--and he said
he wouldn't come back to work at the old wages, not if he had to catch
you by yourself some night."

"Catch me by myself--! And _then_ what?"

"That was as far as he got, sir. They saw you comin' then and he
didn't say anything more."

"Ah!"