Carmella Commands
“Then you made seven thousand dollars on this deal?”
“Yes!”
They rode in silence for a few minutes. Then Carmella asked:
“However did you come to buy there, dad?”
“Mike Laudini told me it was good to buy there.”
“Mike Laudini! The bootlegger!”
“Yes!”
Carmella gasped. She knew that Mike’s customers were many and prominent. It had not occurred to her that he might pick up valuable information from them. That it was sometimes their way of tipping a man who was above other methods. She observed that Dixon was chuckling.
As they left the car, in front of the yellow cottage, Carmella turned to Dixon.
“Thank you, Mr. Dixon, for telling me about the check, and for taking us to the bank, and for bringing us home.”
“Madam’s orders,” he said, grinning.
“And I hope this Hastings man don’t make trouble for you,” she added.
“Don’t worry, kid! He don’t make trouble. He don’t dare. He don’t dare to do anything. He didn’t dare take the tip about Greendale land that your father did. He’s a zero. Good-bye!”
“Good-bye, Mr. Dixon!”
And Carmella turned to run into the house with her father.
[107]
