had a bushel. She
didn't have on much jewelry nowhere; but I want to tell you everybody
in that room looked at her all they dared.

I looked at her and so did her pa. I don't know as you could say we both
was proud--that ain't the right word for it. We was both scared. It
didn't seem possible she could be ours. It didn't seem possible that us
two old cowmen had raised her that way out on the range and that she had
changed so soon. She must of had it in her--her ma, I reckon.

There was a table not very far from ours, just across the first window,
where there was a old man and a old woman and a young man. They seen us
all right. I seen the young man looking at Bonnie Bell two or three
times, always looking down when he seen I noticed. He was a good-looking
young man and dressed well, I suppose, for all the men was dressed
alike. His necktie was tied kind of mussy and careless, like Old Man
Wright's, and he didn't have to keep pushing at his shirt. Did Bonnie
Bell notice him? Maybe she did--you can't tell about womenfolks; their
eyes is set on like a antelope's and they can see behind theirself.

"That's Old Man Wisner," says Henderson, the hotel manager, quiet, to
us, leaning over and pretending like he was fixing our flowers some
more. "Mrs. Wisner and young Mr. James Wisner are with him. You know, he
is one of the richest men here in Chicago--packing and banking, and all
that sort of thing. They are among our best people. They live up in
Millionaire Row."

"Yes, I know," says Bonnie Bell.

From where I set I could see them Wisners over at the other table. The
old man was big, with gray whiskers and gray hair, rather coarse. He had
big eyebrows and his eyes was kind of cross-looking, like his stomach
wasn't right. He was a portly sort of man--you've seen that kind. Some
is bankers and some packers and some brewers; they all look alike, no
matter what they are. They can't ride or walk.

This old party he didn't seem to be paying much attention to his wife,
and I don't know as I blame him. She may have had some looks once, but
not recent. They wasn't happy.

After a while the folks at that table got up and went on out before we
was done with our dinner, which was going strong at the end of a couple
of hours--there wasn't anything in the whole wide world we didn't have
to eat except ham shank and greens. At that, we had a right good time.

By and by it got to be maybe eleven o'clock, and Bonnie Bell turns down
he