He halted. A man stepped out of the shadows, looked closely at him,
pointed a sawed-off shotgun at the ground and said, "Go ahead."
Jeff thought of Ike and Bucky. Probably this man was one of the pickets
waiting for them.
He recovered his cheer. There were always fresh customers down the
road, but they would not be where Jeff had told Joe Parker he intended
to seek them. It would be no difficult matter to send a message to
Delview, and to ask the police there to be alert for a peddler
accompanied by a huge dog.
At the first break in the mountains, Jeff left the road and started for
the opportunities that must surely await him in Smithville.