And he said apologetically to Candy, “He won’t even feel it.”
Candy did not move nor answer him.
He twitched the thong.
“Come on, boy.”
The old dog got slowly and stiffly to his feet and followed the gently pulling leash.
Slim said, “Carlson.”
“Yeah?”
“You know what to do.”
“What ya mean, Slim?”
“Take a shovel,” said Slim shortly.
“Oh, sure!
I get you.”
He led the dog out into the darkness.
George followed to the door and shut the door and set the latch gently in its place.
Candy lay rigidly on his bed staring at the ceiling.
Slim said loudly,
“One of my lead mules got a bad hoof.
Got to get some tar on it.”
His voice trailed off.
It was silent outside.
Carlson’s footsteps died away.
The silence came into the room.
And the silence lasted.
George chuckled,
“I bet Lennie’s right out there in the barn with his pup.
He won’t want to come in here no more now he’s got a pup.”
Slim said, “Candy, you can have any one of them pups you want.”
Candy did not answer.
The silence fell on the room again.
It came out of the night and invaded the room.
George said,
“Anybody like to play a little euchre?”
“I’ll play out a few with you,” said Whit.
They took places opposite each other at the table under the light, but George did not shuffle the cards.
He rippled the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of all the men in the room, so that he stopped doing it.
The silence fell on the room again.
A minute passed, and another minute.
Candy lay still, staring at the ceiling.
Slim gazed at him for a moment and then looked down at his hands; he subdued one hand with the other, and held it down.
There came a little gnawing sound from under the floor and all the men looked down toward it gratefully.
Only Candy continued to stare at the ceiling.
“Sounds like there was a rat under there,” said George. “We ought to get a trap down there.”
Whit broke out,
“What the hell’s takin’ him so long?
Lay out some cards, why don’t you?
We ain’t going to get no euchre played this way.”
George brought the cards together tightly and studied the backs of them.
The silence was in the room again.
A shot sounded in the distance.
The men looked quickly at the old man.