“Yes，woman。Didn’tItellyu’thebotanisthadhiswifealong？
Well，hedid。Andsheactedbetterthantheman，forhewasrosin’hishead，andshoutin’hehadnowhiskey，andhedidn’tguesshisknifewassharpenoughtoamputatemythumb，andnoneofuschewed，andthedoctorwastwentymilesaway，andifhehadonlyrememberedtobringhisammonia——well，hewasscreechingout’mosteverythingheknewintheworld，andwithoutarrangingitany，neither。Butshejustclawedhispocketandburrowedandkep’yelling，’Givehimthestone，Augustus！’AndshewhippedoutoneofthemInjunmedicine-stones，——firstoneIeverseen，——andsheclappeditontomythumb，anditstartedinrightaway。“
“Whatdiditdo？“saidI。
“Sucked。Likeblotting-paperdoes。Softandfunnyitwas，andgray。Theyget’emfromelks’stomachs，yu’know。Andwhenithadsuckedthepoisonoutofthewound，offitfallsofmythumbbyitself！AndIthankedthewomanforsavingmylifethatcapableandkeepingherheadthatcool。Ineverknowedhowexcitedshehadbeentillafterward。Shewasawfulshocked。“
“Isupposeshestartedtotalkwhenthedangerwasover，“saidI，withdeepsilencearoundme。
“No；shedidn’tsaynothingtome。Butwhenhernextchildwasborn，ithadeightrattles。“
Dinnowrosewildinthecaboose。Theyrockedtogether。Theenthusiastbeathiskneetumultuously。AndIjoinedthem。Whocouldhelpit？Ithadbeensowellconductedfromtheimperceptiblebeginning。Factandfalsehoodblendedwithsuchperfectart。Andthislast，aneffectsonewmadewithsuchworld-oldmaterial！IcarednothingthatIwasthevictim，andI
joinedthem；butceased，feelingsuddenlysomehowestrangedorchilled。Itwasintheirlaughter。Theloudnesswastooloud。AndIcaughttheeyesofTrampasfixedupontheVirginianwithexultantmalevolence。Scipio’sdisgustedglancewasuponmefromthedoor。
Dazedbythesesigns，Iwentoutontheplatformtogetawayfromthenoise。TheretheVirginiansaidtome:“Cheerup！You’llnotbesoeasyfor’emthat-a-waynextseason。“
Hesaidnomore；andwithhislegsdangledovertherailing，appearedtoresumehisnewspaper。
“What’sthematter？“saidItoScipio。
“Oh，Idon’tmindifhedon’t，“Scipioanswered。“Couldn’tyu’
see？Itriedtohead’emofffromyu’allIknew，butyu’justraninamong’emyourself。Couldn’tyu’see？Kep’hinderin’andspoilin’mewithaskin’thoseurgentquestionsofyourn——why，I
hadtoletyu’goyourway！Why，thatwasn’ttheordinaryplaywiththeordinarytenderfoottheytreatedyouto！Youain’tacommontenderfootthistrip。You’retheforeman’sfriend。They’vehithimthroughyou。That’sthewaytheycountit。It’smadethemencouraged。Can’tyu’see？“
Scipiostateditplainly。Andasweranbythenextstation，“Howard！“theyharshlyyelled。“Portland1256！“
Wehadbeenpassinggangsofworkmenonthetrack。AndatthatlastyelltheVirginianrose。“IreckonI’lljointhemeetingagain，“hesaid。“Thisfillingandrepairinglookslikethewashoutmighthavebeentrue。“
“Washout？“saidScipio。
“BigHornbridge，theysay——fourdaysago。“
“ThenIwishitcamethissideRawhidestation。“
“Doyu’？“drawledtheVirginian。AndsmilingatScipio，heloungedinthroughtheopendoor。
“Hebeatsme，“saidScipio，shakinghishead。“Histrailisturrublehardtoanticipate。“
Welistened。
“Workbein’doneontheroad，Isee，“theVirginianwassaying，veryfriendlyandconversational。
“Weseeittoo，“saidthevoiceofTrampas。
“Seemtobeeasin’theirgradessome。“
“Roadsdo。“
“Cheapertobuild’emthewaytheywant’ematthestart，amanwouldthink，“suggestedtheVirginian，mostfriendly。“TheregosomemoreI-talians。“
“They’reChinese，“saidTrampas。
“That’sso，“acknowledgedtheVirginian，withalaugh。
“What’shemonkeyin’atnow？“mutteredScipio。
“Withoutcheapforeignerstheycouldn’taffordallthishyehnewgradin’，“theSouthernercontinued。
“Grading！Can’tyoutellwhenaflood’sbeeneatingthebanks？“
“Why，yes，“saidtheVirginian，sweetashoney。“But’ain’tyu’
heardoftheimprovementswestofBigTimber，allthewaytoMissoula，thisseason？I’mtalkin’aboutthem。“
“Oh！Talkingaboutthem。Yes，I’veheard。“
“Goodmoney-savin’scheme，ain’tit？“saidtheVirginian。
“Lettin’afreightrundownonehillan’upthenextasfarasshe’llnowithoutsteam，an’shavin’thehilldowntothatpoint。“Nowthiswasanhonestengineeringfact。“Better’nsettin’dudessquintin’throughtelescopesandcypherin’overonepercentreductions，“theSouthernercommented。
“It’scommonsense，“assentedTrampas。“Haveyouheardthenewschemeaboutthewater-tanks？“
“Iain’trightcertain，“saidtheSoutherner。
“Imustwatchthis，“saidScipio，“orIshallbust。Hewentin，andsodidI。
TheywereallsittingoverthisdiscussionoftheNorthernPacific’srecentpolicyastobetterments，asthoughtheyweretheboardofdirectors。Pinscouldhavedropped。Onlynobodywouldhavecaredtohearapin。
“Theyusedtoputalltheirtanksatthebottomoftheirgrades，“
saidTrampas。
“Why，yu’getthewatereasieratthebottom。“
“Youcanpumpittothetop，though，“saidTrampas，growingsuperior。“Andit’scheaper。“
“Thatgetsme，“saidtheVirginian，interested。
“Trainsafterwateringcanstartdownhillnowandgetthebenefitofthegravity。It’llcutdownoperatingexpensesaheap。“
“That’scert’nlycommonsense！“exclaimedtheVirginian，absorbed。“Butain’titkindo’tardy？“
“Liveandlearn。Sotheygainedspeed，too。Highspeedonhalfthecoalthisseason，untiltheaccident。“
“Accident！“saidtheVirginian，instantly。
“YellowstoneLimited。Manfiredatenginedriver。Trainwasflyingpastthatquickthebulletbrokeeverywindowandkilledapassengeronthebackplatform。You’vebeenrunningtoomuchwitharistocrats，“finishedTrampas，andturnedonhisheel。
“Haw，hew！“begantheenthusiast，buthisneighborgrippedhimtosilence。Thiswasatriumphtooseriousfornoise。Notamutineermoved；andIfeltcold。
“Trampas，“saidtheVirginian，“Ithoughtyu’dbeafearedtotryitonme。“
Trampaswhirledround。Hishandwasathisbelt。“Afraid！“hesneered。
“Shorty！“saidScipio，sternly，andleapinguponthatyouth，tookhishalf-drawnpistolfromhim。
“I’mobligedtoyu’，“saidtheVirginiantoScipio。Trampas’shandlefthisbelt。Hethrewaslight，easylookathismen，andkeepinghisbacktotheVirginian，walkedoutontheplatformandsatonthechairwheretheVirginianhadsatsomuch。
“Don’tyoucomprehend，“saidtheVirginiantoShorty，amiably，“thatthishyehquestionhasbeendiscussedpeaceablebycivilizedcitizens？Nowyousitdownandbegood，andMr。LeMoynewillreturnyourgunwhenwe’reacrossthatbrokenbridge，iftheyhavegotitfixedforheavytrainsyet。“
“Thistrainwillbelighterwhenitgetstothatbridge，“spokeTrampas，outonhischair。
“Why，that’strue，too！“saidtheVirginian。“Maybenoneofusarecrossin’thatBigHornbridgenow，exceptme。Funnyifyu’
shouldendbypersuadin’metoquitandgotoRawhidemyself！ButIreckonI’llnot。IreckonI’llworryalongtoSunkCreek，somehow。“
“Don’tforgetI’mcookin’foryu’，“saidScipio，gruffy。
“I’mobligedtoyu’，“saidtheSoutherner。
“Youwerespeakingofajobforme，“saidShorty。
“I’mrightobliged。Butyu’see——Iain’texacklyforemanthewaythiscomesout，andmypromisesmightnotbindJudgeHenrytopaysalaries。
Apushcamethroughthetrainfromforward。WewereslowingfortheRawhidestation，andallbegantobebusyandtotalk。“Goinguptotheminesto-day？““Oh，let’sgrubfirst。““Guessit’stoolate，anyway。“Andsoforth；whiletheyrolledandropedtheirbedding，andputontheircoatswithagooddealofelbowmotion，andotherwiseshowedoff。Itwaswasted。TheVirginiandidnotknowwhatvitasgoingoninthecaboose。Hewasleaningandlookingoutahead，andScipio’spuzzledeyeneverlefthim。Andaswehaltedforthewater-tank，theSouthernerexclaimed，“They’aintgotawayyet！“asifitweregoodnewstohim。
Hemeantthedelayedtrains。Fourstalledexpresseswereinfrontofus，besidesseveralfreights。Andtwohoursmoreatleastbeforethebridgewouldbeready。
Travellersstoodandsataboutforlorn，nearthecars，outinthesage-brush，anywhere。Peopleinhatsandspurswatchedthem，andIndianchiefsofferedthempaintedbowsandarrowsandshinyhorns。
“Ireckonthempassengerswouldpreferalaigo’mutton，“saidtheVirginiantoamanloafingnearthecaboose。
“Betyourlife！“saidtheman。“Firstlothasbeenstuckherefourdays。“
“Plumbstarved，ain’tthey？“inquiredtheVirginian。
“Betyourlife！They’veeatuptheirdiningcarsandthey’veeatupthistown。“
“Well，“saidtheVirginian，lookingatthetown，“Iexpaictthedining-cyarscontainedmorenourishment。“
“Say，you’reaboutrightthere！“saidtheman。Hewalkedbesidethecabooseaswepuffedslowlyforwardfromthewater-tanktooursiding。“Finebusinesshereifwe’donlybeenready，“hecontinued。“AndtheCrowagenthaslethisIndianscomeoverfromthereservation。Therehasbeenalittlebeefbroughtin，andgame，andfish。Andbigmoneyinit，betyourlife！ThemEasternpassengershasjustbeenrobbed。IwishtIhadsomethin’tosell！“
“AnythingstartingforRawhidethisafternoon？“saidTrampas，outofthecaboosedoor。
“Notuntilmorning，“saidtheman。“Yougoingtothemines？“heresumedtotheVirginian。
“Why，“answeredtheSoutherner，slowlyandcasually，andaddressinghimselfstrictlytotheman，whileTrampas，onhisside，paidobviousinattention，“thishyehdelay，yu’see，mayunsettleourplanssome。Butit’llbeoneoftwoways，——we’reallgoin’toRawhide，orwe’reallgoin’toBillings。We’realloneparty，yu’see。“
Trampaslaughedaudiblyinsidethedoorasherejoinedhismen。
“Iethimkeepupappearances，“Iheardhimtellthem。“Itdon’thurtuswhathesaystostrangers。“
“ButI’mgoin’toeatheartyeitherway，“continuedtheVirginian。“AndIain’goin’toberobbed。I’vebeenkindo’
promisin’myselfatreatifwestoppedhyeh。“
“Town’seatcleanout，“saidtheman。
“Soyu’tellme。Butallyoufolkshasforgotonesourceofrevenuethatyu’haverightcloseby，mightyhandy。Ifyouhavegotagunnysack，I’llshowyouhowtomakesomemoney。“
“Betyourlife！“saidtheman。
“Mr。LeMoyne，“saidtheVirginian，“theoutfit’scookin’stuffisaboard，andifyou’llgetthefireready，we’lltryhowfrawgs’laigsgofried。“Hewalkedoffatonce，themanfollowinglikeadog。Insidethecabooseroseagustoflaughter。
“Frogs！“mutteredScipio。Andthenturningablankfacetome，“Frogs？“
“ColonelCyrusJoneshadthemonhisbilloffare，“Isaid。
“’FROGS’LEGSALADELMONICO。’“
“Shoo！Ididn’tgetupthatthing。TheyhaditwhenIcame。Neverlookedatit。Frogs？“Hewentdownthestepsveryslowly，withalongfrown。Reachingtheground，heshookhishead。“Thatman’strailissurelyhardtoanticipate，“hesaid。“ButImusthurryupthatfire。Forhisappearancehasgivenmeencouragement，“
Scipioconcluded，andbecamebrisk。Shortyhelpedhim，andI
broughtwood。Trampasandtheotherpeoplestrolledofftothestation，acompactband。