hour the numerous bars of Sleepy Cat were points of
interest for the drinking men. In front of these, reminiscences of the
dead man held heated sway. Some stories pulled themselves together
through the stimulus of deep drinking, others gradually went to pieces
under its bewildering effects, but as long as a man could remember that
he was talking about Abe Hawk or the Falling Wall, his anecdotes were
tolerated.

Nor were all the men that had come to town to say good-by to Abe, lined
up at the bars. Because Tenison had insisted that it should, Hawk's
body lay during the morning at the Mountain House in the first big
sample room opening off the hotel office. All that the red-faced
undertaker could do to make it presentable in its surroundings had been
done at Harry Tenison's charge. Laramie's protests were ignored:
"You're a poor man, Jim," declared Tenison, "and you can't pay any
bills now for Abe. He thought more of you than he did of any man in
the world. But most of his money he left here with me, upstairs and
down. Abe was stiff-necked as hell, whether it was cards or cattle,
you know that. And it's only some of his money--not mine--I'm turning
back to him. That Dutchman," he added, referring with a contemptuous
oath to the unpopular undertaker of Sleepy Cat, "is a robber, anyhow.
The only way I'll ever get even with him is that he'll drink most of it
up again. I played pinochle with that bar-sinister chap," continued
Tenison, referring to the enemy by the short and ugly word, "all one
night, and couldn't get ten cents out of him--and he half-drunk at
that. What do you know about that?

"Jim," Tenison changed his tone and his rambling talk suddenly ceased,
"you've not told me rightly yet about Abe."

Laramie looked up: "Why, Harry," he said quietly, "I told you where I
found him that night--he got out of the creek at Pride's Crossing."

Tenison shook his head: "But what I want to know is what went on before
he got to Pride's Crossing."

"Well, I started with him that night for town."

"That's what you said before," objected Tenison with an impatient
gesture. "What you didn't say is what I want to hear."

"Harry, I won't try to give you a long line of talk. I can't tell it
all--and I don't want to try to fool you. There's another name in the
story that I don't feel I've got a right to bring in--that's all. Some
day you'll hear it."

Neither Lefever nor Sawdy could get any more out of Laramie.