HeretheVirginianbrokedownoverhisownfantasticinventions，andgaveajoyouschuckleincompanywithhissweetheart。“Yes，there’sabigheapo’differencebetweenmenandwomen，“hesaid。
“Takethatfello’andmyself，now。“
“Trampas？“saidMolly，quicklyserious。Shelookedalongtheroadahead，anddiscernedthefigureofTrampasstillvisibleonitswaytotown。
TheVirginiandidnotwishhertobeserious——morethancouldbehelped。“Why，yes，“hereplied，withawavinggestureatTrampas。
“Takehimandme。Hedon’tthinkmucho’me！Howcouldhe？AndI
expecthe’llnever。Butyu’sawjustnowhowitwasbetweenus。
Wewerenotabitlikeatemperancemeetin’。“
Shecouldnothelplaughingatthetwisthegavetohisvoice。
Andshefelthappinesswarmingher；forintheVirginian’stoneaboutTrampaswassomethingnowthatnolongerexcludedher。Thushebeganhisgradualrecital，inacadencealwayseasy，andmoreandmoremusicalwiththenativeaccentoftheSouth。Withthelightturnhegaveit，itspureuglinessmeltedintocharm。
“No，hedon’tthinkanythingofme。OnceamanintheJohnDayValleydidn’tthinkmuch，andbyCanadadeOroImetanother。Itwillalwaysbesohereandthere，butTrampasbeats’emall。Fortheothershavealwaysexpressedthemselves——gotshutoftheirpooropinionintheopenair。
“Yu’see，IhadtoexplainmyselftoTrampasarightsmartwhileago，longbeforeeverIlaidmyeyesonyu’。Itwasjustnothingatall。AlittlematterofcyardsinthedayswhenIwasapttospendmymoneyandmyholidaysprettyheadlong。Mygracious，whatnonsensicaltimesIhavehad！ButIwasapttowinatcyards，’speciallypoker。AndTrampas，hemetmeonenight，andIexpecthemusthavethoughtIlookedkindo’young。Sohehatedlosin’
hismoneytosuchayoung-lookin’men，andhetookhiswayofsayin’asmuch。Ihadtoexplainmyselftohimplainly，sothathelearnedrightawaymyagehadgotitsgrowth。
“Well，Iexpecthehatedthatworse，havingtoreceivemyexplanationwithfolkslookin’onatuspubliclythat-a-way，andhimwithoutfurtherideasoccurrin’tohimatthemoment。That’swhatstartedhispooropinionofme，nothavin’ideasatthemoment。Andsotheboysresumedtheircyards。
“I’dmostforgotaboutit。ButTrampas’smem’ryisoneofhisstrongpoints。Nextthing——oh，it’sagoodwhilelater——hegetstolosin’fleshbecauseJudgeHenrygavemechargeofhimandsomeotherpuncherstakingcattle——“
“That’snotnext，“interruptedthegirl。
“Not？Why——“
“Don’tyouremember？“shesaid，timid，yeteager。“Don’tyou？“
“BlamedifIdo！“
“Thefirsttimewemet？“
“Yes；mymem’rykeepsthat——likeIkeepthis。“Andhebroughtfromhispocketherownhandkerchief，thetokenhehadpickedupatariver’sbrinkwhenhehadcarriedherfromanoverturnedstage。
“Wedidnotexactlymeet，then，“shesaid。“Itwasatthatdance。
Ihadn’tseenyouyet；butTrampaswassayingsomethinghorridaboutme，andyousaid——yousaid，’Riseonyourlegs，youpolecat，andtellthemyou’realiar。’WhenIheardthat，Ithink——I
thinkitfinishedme。“AndcrimsonsuffusedMolly’scountenance。
“I’dforgot，“theVirginianmurmured。Thensharply，“Howdidyouhearit？“
“Mrs。Taylor——“
“Oh！Well，amanwouldneverhavetoldawomanthat。“
Mollylaughedtriumphantly。“ThenwhotoldMrs。Taylor？“
Beingcaught，hegrinnedather。“Ireckonhusbandsareaspecialkindofman，“wasallthathefoundtosay。“Well，sinceyoudoknowaboutthat，itwasthenextmoveinthegame。TrampasthoughtIhadnocalltostophimsayin’whathepleasedaboutawomanwhowasnothin’tome——then。Butallwomenoughttobesomethin’toaman。SoIhadtogiveTrampasanotherexplanationinthepresenceoffolkslookin’on，anditwasjustlikethecyards。Noideasoccurredtohimagain。Anddowngoeshisopinionofmesomemore！
“Well，Ihavenotbeenabletoraiseit。Therehasbeenthisandthatandtheother，——yu’knowmostofthelaterdoingsyourself，——andto-dayisthefirsttimeI’vehappenedtoseethemansincethedoingslastautumn。Yu’seemtoknowaboutthem，too。HeknowsIcan’tprovehewaswiththatgangofhorsethieves。AndIcan’tprovehekilledpoorShorty。ButheknowsI
missedhimawfulclose，andspoiledhisthievingforawhile。Sod’yu’wonderhedon’tthinkmuchofme？ButifIhadlivedtobetwenty-nineyearsoldlikeIam，andwithallmychancesmadenoenemy，I’dfeelmyselfafailure。“
Hisstorywasfinished。Hehadmadeherhisconfidantinmattershehadneverspokenofbefore，andshewashappytobethusmuchnearertohim。Itdiminishedacertainfearthatwasmingledwithherloveofhim。
Duringthenextseveralmileshewassilent，andhissilencewasenoughforher。Vermontsankawayfromherthoughts，andWyomingheldlessofloneliness。Theydescendedaltogetherintothemapwhichhadstretchedbelowthem，sothatitwasamapnolonger，butearthwithgrowingthings，andprairie-dogssittinguponit，andnowandthenabirdflyingoverit。Andafterawhileshesaidtohim，“Whatareyouthinkingabout？“
“Ihavebeendoingsums。Figuredinhoursitsoundsrightshort。
Figuredinminutesitboilsupintoquiteamess。Twentybysixtyistwelvehundred。Putthatintoseconds，andyu’getseventy-twothousandseconds。Seventy-twothousand。Seventy-twothousandsecondsyetbeforewegetmarried。“
“Seconds！Tothinkofitshavingcometoseconds！“
“Iamthinkin’aboutit。I’mchoppin’sixtyof’emoffeveryminute。“
Withsuchchoppingtimewearsaway。Moremilesoftheroadlaybehindthem，andinthevirginwildernessthescarsofnew-scrapedwaterditchesbegantoappear，andthefirstwirefences。Next，theywerepassingcabinsandoccasionalfields，theoutpostsofhabitation。Thefreeroadbecamewhollyimprisoned，runningbetweenunbrokenstretchesofbarbedwire。Farofftotheeastwardaflowingcolumnofdustmarkedtheapproachingstage，bringingthebishop，probably，forwhosevisitheretheyhadtimedtheirwedding。Thedaystillbrimmedwithheatandsunshine；butthegreatdailyshadowwasbeginningtomovefromthefeetoftheBowLegMountainsoutwardtowardthetown。
Presentlytheybegantomeetcitizens。Someoftheseknewthemandnodded，whilesomedidnot，andstared。Turningacornerintothetown’schiefstreet，wherestoodthehotel，thebank，thedrugstore，thegeneralstore，andthesevensaloons，theywerehailedheartily。Herewerethreefriends，——HoneyWiggin，ScipioLeMoyne，andLinMcLean，——alldesirousofdrinkingtheVirginian’shealth，ifhislady——wouldshemind？Thethreestoodgrinning，withtheirhatsoff；butbehindtheirgayetytheVirginianreadsomeotherpurpose。
“We’llallbeverygood，“saidHoneyWiggin。
“Prettygood，“saidLin。
“Good，“saidScipio。
“Whichisthehonestman？“inquiredMolly，gladtoseethem。
“Notone！“saidtheVirginian。“MyoldfriendsscaremewhenI
thinkoftheirways。“
“It’sbein’engagedscaresyu’，“retortedMr。McLean。“Marriagerestoresyourcourage，Ifind。“
“Well，I’lltrustallofyou，“saidMolly。“He’sgoingtotakemetothehotel，andthenyoucandrinkhishealthasmuchasyouplease。“
Withasmiletothemsheturnedtoproceed，andhelethishorsemovewithhers；buthelookedathisfriends。ThenScipio’sbleachedblueeyesnarrowedtoaslit，andhesaidwhattheyhadallcomeoutonthestreettosay:-“Don’tchangeyourclothes。“
“Oh！“protestedMolly，“isn’theratherdustyandcountrified？“
ButtheVirginianhadtakenScipio’smeaning。“DON’TCHANGEYOURS
CLOTHES。“InnocentMollyappreciatedthesewordsnomorethantheaveragereaderwhoreadsamasterpiece，complacentlyunawarethatitsstylediffersfromthatofthemorningpaper。SuchwasScipio’sintention，wishingtospareherfromalarmSoatthehotelsheletherlovergowithakiss，andwithoutathoughtofTrampas。Sheinherroomunlockedthepossessionswhichweretherewaitingforher，andchangedherdress。
Weddinggarments，andothercivilizedapparelproperforagenuinefrontiersmanwhenhecomestotown，werealsointhehotel，readyfortheVirginiantowear。Itisonlythesomewhatgreenandunseasonedcow-puncherwhostrutsbeforethepublicinspursanddeadlyweapons。FormanyayeartheVirginianhadputawaythesechildishthings。Hemadeasobertoiletforthestreets。Nothingbuthisfaceandbearingremainedoutofthecommonwhenhewasinatown。ButScipiohadtoldhimnottochangehisclothes；thereforehewentoutwithhispistolathiship。Soonhehadjoinedhisthreefriends。
“I’mobligedtoyu’，“hesaid。“Hepassedmethismawnin’。“
“Wedon’tknowhisintentions，“saidWiggin。
“Exceptthathe’shangin’around，“saidMcLean。
“Andfillin’up，“saidScipio，“whichremindsme——“
Theystrolledintothesaloonofafriend，where，unfortunately，satsomefoolishpeople。Butonecannotalwaystellhowmuchofafoolamanis，atsight。
Itwasatemperatehealth-drinkingthattheymade。“Here’show，“
theymutteredsoftlytotheVirginian；and“How，“hereturnedsoftly，lookingawayfromthem。Buttheyhadabriefmeetingofeyes，standingandloungingneareachother，shyly；andScipioshookhandswiththebridegroom。“Someday，“hestated，tappinghimself；forinhisvagranthearthebegantoenvythemanwhocouldbringhimselftomarry。Andhenoddedagain，repeating，“Here’show。“
Theystoodatthebar，fullofsentiment，emptyofwords，memoryandaffectionbusyintheirhearts。Allofthemhadseenroughdaystogether，andtheyfeltguiltywithemotion。
“It’shotweather，“saidWiggin。
“HotteronBoxElder，“saidMcLean。“Mykidhasstartedteething。“
Wordsrandryagain。Theyshiftedtheirpositions，lookedintheirglasses，readthelabelsonthebottles。Theydroppedawordnowandthentotheproprietorabouthistrade，andhisornaments。
“Goodhead，“commentedMcLean。
“Bigoldram，“assentedtheproprietor。“ShothimmyselfonGrayBulllastfall。“
“SheepwasthickintheTetonslastfall，“saidtheVirginian。
Onthebarstoodamachineintowhichtheidlecustomermightdrophisnickel。Thecointhenbouncedamonganarrangementofpegs，descendingatlengthintooneoranotherofvariousholes。
Youmightwinasmuchastentimesyourstake，butthiswasnotthemostusualresult；andwithnickelsthethreefriendsandthebridegroomnowmildlysportedforawhile，buyingthemwithsilverwhentheirstoreranout。
“WasitsheepyouwentafterintheTetons？“inquiredtheproprietor，knowingitwashorsethieves。
“Yes，“saidtheVirginian。“I’llhavetenmorenickels。“
“Didyougetallthesheepyouwanted？“theproprietorcontinued。
“Poorluck，“saidtheVirginian。
“Thinkthere’safriendofyoursintownthisafternoon，“saidtheproprietor。
“Didhementionhewasmyfriend？“
Theproprietorlaughed。TheVirginianwatchedanothernickelclickdownamongthepegs。
HoneyWigginnowmadethebridegroomastraightoffer。“We’lltakethisthingoffyourhands，saidhe。
“Anyorallofus，“saidLin。
ButScipioheldhispeace。Hisloyaltywenteveryinchasfarastheirs，buthisunderstandingofhisfriendwentdeeper。“Don’tchangeyourclothes，“wasthefirstandthelasthelphewouldbelikelytogiveinthismatter。Therestmustbeassuchmattersmustalwaysbe，betweenmanandman。Totheothertwofriends，however，thisseemedaveryspecialcase，fallingoutsideestablishedprecedent。Thereforetheyventuredoffersofinterference。
“Amandon’tgetmarriedeveryday，“apologizedMcLean。“We’lljustrunhimoutoftownforyu’。“
“Saveyu’thetrouble，“urgedWiggin。“Saytheword。“
Theproprietornowaddedhisvoice。“It’llsoberhimuptospendhisnightoutinthebrush。He’llquithistalkthen。“
ButtheVirginiandidnotsaytheword，oranyword。Hestoodplayingwiththenickels。
“Thinkofher，“mutteredMcLean。