224
TIMBER
"More than I've done," sliding his watch to a big palm. "I'm overdue—a half hour!"
Still chuckling, making brief farewells, he departed. Joe and Taylor watched him swing along the board sidewalk. They could see the supervisors through the open window of their room—and one figure was in the street, the figure that John had seen as Joe brought his story to a finish: Humphrey Bryant, walking slowly from the court house toward the Banner office, slowly but not like an old man—with a spring in his stride, and his thin plume of white hair waved triumphantly above his scalp.
