But it was Creagan's sorry plight that he must affect never to have seen this insolent Pringle before.

The sheriff's face mottled with wrath.

Pringle reflected swiftly: The sheriff's rage hinted strongly that he was in Creagan's confidence and hence was no stranger to last night's mishap at the hotel; their silence proclaimed their treacherous intent.
On the other hand, these two, if not the others, knew very well that Pringle had left town with Foy and had probably stayed with him; that the Major must know all that Foy and Pringle knew.

Evidently, Pringle decided, these two, at least, could expect no direct information from their persistent questionings; what they hoped for was unconscious betrayal by some slip of the tongue.

As for young Breslin, Pringle had long since sized him up for what the Major knew him to be--a good-hearted, right-meaning simpleton.