"thatamanwantedtotakewithhim。InsidethekitchenhesawAl,hisderbyhattiedback,sittingonastoolbesidethewicketwiththemuzzleofasawed-offshotgunrestingontheledge。Nickandthecookwerebacktobackinthecorner,atoweltiedineachoftheirmouths。Georgehadcookedthesandwich,wraedituinoiledaer,utitinabag,broughtitin,andthemanhadaidforitandgoneout。
"Brightboycandoeverything,
"Maxsaid。
"Hecancookandeverything。You&aos;dmakesomegirlanicewife,brightboy。
"
"Yes?
"Georgesaid。
"Yourfriend,OleAndreson,isn&aos;tgoingtocome。
"
"We&aos;llgivehimtenminutes,
"Maxsaid。
Maxwatchedthemirrorandtheclock。Thehandsoftheclockmarkedseveno&aos;clock,andthenfiveminutesastseven。
"Comeon,Al,
"saidMax。
"Webettergo。He&aos;snotcoming。
"
"Bettergivehimfiveminutes,
"Alsaidfromthekitchen。
Inthefiveminutesamancamein,andGeorgeexlainedthatthecookwassick。
"Whythehelldon&aos;tyougetanothercook?
"themanasked。
"Aren&aos;tyourunningalunchcounter?
"Hewentout。
"Comeon,Al,
"Maxsaid。
"Whataboutthetwobrightboysandthenigger?
"
"They&aos;reallright。
"
"Youthinkso?
"
"Sure。We&aos;rethroughwithit。
"
"Idon&aos;tlikeit,
"saidAl。
"It&aos;ssloy。Youtalktoomuch,
"
"Oh,whatthehell,
"saidMax。