"He's Pal now."
Jeff set a plate of bacon and eggs on the table and put bread and butter
beside it.
"You may as well start, Dan."
Unable completely to erase the anger from his eyes, not speaking, Dan
sat down and began to eat. Jeff put the bacon and eggs he had intended
for himself on another plate. Thoughtfully he set the plate on the other
side of the table, two places away from the furious Dan.
"Here you are, Mr.--?"
"Whitney's the name. Pete Whitney."
"I'm Jeff Tarrant and this is Dan Blazer."
"Yeah?" Interest leaped in Pete's eyes. "Any kin to John?"
"He was my pop!" Dan flared. "That you know very well!"
"Dan, mind your manners!" Jeff remonstrated, putting more bacon and eggs
in the skillet.
"I'm minding them! He knows who my pop was and he knows me!"
Pete, who had been eating as though finishing the meal was a job he had
to complete in a great hurry, put his fork down and bent over his plate.
Again Jeff thought uncomfortably of a hunted animal, and though he could
not see Pete's eyes, he was sure that they were once more venom-ridden.
There was an awkward silence which Pete broke.
"Seems to me I do mind a young'un comin' to see John."
Dan flared again. "Do you also 'mind' that my pop was shot? Maybe you
even know who shot him!"
"Dan!" Jeff thundered.
For a few seconds Pete lingered over his food. Then it was as though he
had thought out a decision which had been hard to make. He speared half
an egg, curled a whole strip of bacon on the end of his fork, shoved
everything into his mouth and began to chew noisily.
"Nao," he said. "I wouldn't knaow who done fer John."
"Dan's upset," Jeff explained. "He didn't realize what he was saying."
An explosive, "I did, too" lingered on Dan's lips and died there when he
caught Jeff's eyes. As the latter turned to lift his own breakfast out
of the skillet, Pete nodded vigorously.
"Likely. Likely. Young'uns do get upsot. What be ye doin' here?"
Jeff said smoothly, "We represent Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd., and came
because we thought we could do some business around Smithville."