From inside the bar Bill took a careful survey of Le Moyne. He noted his
tall figure and shabby suit, the slight stoop, the hair graying over his
ears. Barkeepers know men: that's a part of the job. After his survey he
went behind the bar and got the revolver from under an overturned pail.
K. thrust it into his pocket.
"Now," he said quietly, "where is he?"
"In my room--top of the house."
K. followed Bill up the stairs. He remembered the day when he had sat
waiting in the parlor, and had heard Tillie's slow step coming down. And
last night he himself had carried down Wilson's unconscious figure. Surely
the wages of sin were wretchedness and misery. None of it paid. No one
got away with it.
The room under the eaves was stifling. An unmade bed stood in a corner.
From nails in the rafters hung Bill's holiday wardrobe. A tin cup and a
cracked pitcher of spring water stood on the window-sill.
Joe was sitting in the corner farthest from the window. When the door
swung open, he looked up. He showed no interest on seeing K., who had to
stoop to enter the low room.
"Hello, Joe."
"I thought you were the police."
"Not much. Open that window, Bill. This place is stifling."
"Is he dead?"
"No, indeed."
"I wish I'd killed him!"
"Oh, no, you don't. You're damned glad you didn't, and so am I."
"What will they do with me?"
"Nothing until they find you. I came to talk about that. They'd better
not find you."
"Huh!"
"It's easier than it sounds."
K. sat down on the bed.
"If I only had some money!" he said. "But never mind about that, Joe; I'll
get some."
Loud calls from below took Bill out of the room. As he closed the door
behind him, K.'s voice took on a new tone: "Joe, why did you do it?"
"You know."
"You saw him with somebody at the White Springs, and followed them?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who was with him?"
"Yes, and so do you. Don't go into that. I did it, and I'll stand by it."
"Has it occurred to you that you made a mistake?"
"Go and tell that to somebody who'll believe you!" he sneered. "They came
here and took a room. I met him coming out of it. I'd do it again if I had
a chance, and do it better."