Bargain Hunters
I prodded Einarson into the room and closed the door. Romaine looked at him and at the automatic that was now uncovered in my hand. With burlesque disappointment she said:
“Oh, you haven’t killed him yet!”
Colonel Einarson stiffened. He had an audience now—one that saw his humiliation. He was likely to do something. I’d have to handle him with gloves, or—maybe the other way was better. I kicked him on the ankle and snarled:
“Get over in the corner and sit down!”
He spun around to me. I jabbed the muzzle of the pistol in his face, grinding his lip between it and his teeth. When his head jerked back I slammed him in the belly with my other fist. He grabbed for air with a wide mouth. I pushed him over to a chair in one corner of the room.
Romaine laughed and shook a finger at me, saying:
“You’re a rowdy!”
“What else can I do?” I protested, chiefly for my prisoner’s benefit. “When somebody’s watching him he gets notions that he’s a hero. I stuck him up and made him crown the boy king. But this bird has still got the army, which is the government. I can’t let go of him, or both Lionel the Once and I will gather lead. It hurts me more than it does him to have to knock him around, but I can’t help myself. I’ve got to keep him sensible.”