othing until the spirit gives it
life.

III. STEVE TREATS

It was for several minutes, I suppose, that I stood drawing these silent
morals. No man occupied himself with me. Quiet voices, and games of
chance, and glasses lifted to drink, continued to be the peaceful order
of the night. And into my thoughts broke the voice of that card-dealer
who had already spoken so sagely. He also took his turn at moralizing.

"What did I tell you?" he remarked to the man for whom he continued to
deal, and who continued to lose money to him.

"Tell me when?"

"Didn't I tell you he'd not shoot?" the dealer pursued with complacence.
"You got ready to dodge. You had no call to be concerned. He's not the
kind a man need feel anxious about."

The player looked over at the Virginian, doubtfully. "Well," he said, "I
don't know what you folks call a dangerous man."

"Not him!" exclaimed the dealer with admiration. "He's a brave man.
That's different."

The player seemed to follow this reasoning no better than I did.

"It's not a brave man that's dangerous," continued the dealer. "It's the
cowards that scare me." He paused that this might sink home.

"Fello' came in here las' Toosday," he went on. "He got into some
misunderstanding about the drinks. Well, sir, before we could put him
out of business, he'd hurt two perfectly innocent onlookers. They'd no
more to do with it than you have," the dealer explained to me.

"Were they badly hurt?" I asked.

"One of 'em was. He's died since."

"What became of the man?"

"Why, we put him out of business, I told you. He died that night. But
there was no occasion for any of it; and that's why I never like to
be around where there's a coward. You can't tell. He'll always go to
shooting before it's necessary, and there's no security who he'll
hit. But a man like that black-headed guy is (the dealer indicated the
Virginian) need never worry you. And there's another point why there's
no need to worry about him: IT'D BE TOO LATE."

These good words ended the moralizing of the dealer. He had given us
a piece of his mind. He now gave the whole of it to dealing cards.
I loitered here and there, neither welcome nor unwelcome at present,
watching the cow-boys at their play. Saving Trampas, there was scarce
a face among them that had not in it something very likable. Here were
lusty horsemen ridden from the heat of the sun, and the wet of the
storm, to divert themselves awhile. Youth untame