It'll save
me the trouble of sticking up the First National and winging a
few indiscreet citizens of that burgh. Savvy?"
"That's all you ask?" demanded the surprised sheriff.
"All I ask is to get those papers in my hand and a four-hour
start before you begin the hunt. Is it a deal?"
"It's a deal, but I give it to you straight that I'll be after
you as soon as the four hours are up," returned Collins promptly.
"I don't know what magic Miss Mackenzie used. Still, I must
compliment her on getting us out mighty easy."
But though the sheriff looked smilingly at Alice, that young
woman, usually mistress of herself in all emergencies, did not
lift her eyes to meet his. Indeed, he thought her strangely
embarrassed. She was as flushed and tongue-tied as a country girl
in unaccustomed company. She seemed another woman than the
self-possessed young beauty he had met a month before on the
Limited, but he found her shy abashment charming.
"I guess you thought you had come to the end of the passage, Mr.
Collins," suggested the outlaw, with listless curiosity.
"I didn't know whether to order the flowers or not, but 'way down
in my heart I was backing my luck," Collins told him.
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