The rest of the scene the Boss never would fill in just as it came off
the bat, but I managed to piece out that the brigandess, sizing us up
for a couple of pikers, reckoned that we wouldn't pan out much cash, and
that the Boss might be used some rough by the gang. That prospect not
setting well on her mind, she rolls out the back door of their camp,
makes a swift trip around to our new private entrance, squeezes through
the bars, and comes up to put us wise.

Must have been just as she'd got to them lines that the Boss began
taking a good look at her. I saw him gazin' into her eyes like he'd
taken out a search warrant. Don't know as I could blame him much,
either. She was a top liner. Wasn't anything coy or kittenish about her.
She stood up and gave him as good as he sent. Next I see him make the
only fool play but one that I ever knew the Boss to make--reg'lar kid
trick.

"Here," says he, pulling off the big carbuncle ring he always wears,
"that's to remember me by."

She didn't even look at it. No joolry for hers. Instead, she says
something kind of low and sassy, pokes her face up, and begins to
pucker.

The Boss he sort of side steps and squints over his shoulder at me. Now,
I'm not sayin' what I'd do if a girl like that gave me the Cissy Loftus
eye. It ain't up to me. But I know what I'd want the crowd to do--and I
did it.

When I turned around again they was just at the breakaway, so it must
have been one of the by-by forever kind, such as you see at the dock on
sailing day. Then she took us down to show us how she came in, and
squeezed herself through the bars. They shook hands just once, and that
was all.

That night there was a grand howl from the brigands. They had put in
hours of real work, the kind they'd figured on cutting out after they
got into the brigand business, only to run into a burglar-proof shutter
which we had put up. They pranced around to the front gate and shook
their fists at us, and called us American pigs, and invited us to come
out and have our ears trimmed, and a lot of nonsense like that. I wanted
to turn loose the blunderbusses, but the Boss said: "No, let 'em enjoy
themselves."

"How long do you suppose they'll keep that sort of thing up?" says I.

"Vincenzo says some of them will stay around all summer unless we buy
them off," says he.

"That's lovely," says I, "for anyone that's dead gone on the life here."

"I'm not," says he. "I can't get out of here too quick, no