; I'll go fetch Jennie. She's prob'ly over to
the dance. She'll fix you up with a room an' see that you get what you
want."

"But my bag?"

"Yer what?"

"My bag--with all my things in it. I left it in the car."

"Oh, yer war-bag! All right, I'll get that after I've got Jennie cut
out an' headed this way."

He stepped into the dance-hall next door and motioned to a plump,
round-faced girl who was dancing with a young cowboy. At the
conclusion of the dance the girl laughingly refused to accompany her
partner to the bar, and made her way toward the Texan.

"Say, Jennie," the man said, after drawing her aside; "there's a girl
over to the hotel and I want you to go over an' fix her up with a room.
Give her Number 11. It's handy to the side door."

The girl's nose went up and the laughing eyes flashed scornfully. "No,
you don't, Tex Benton! What do you think I am? An' what's more, you
don't pull nothin' like that around there. That hotel's run decent,
an' it's goin' to stay decent or Hank can get someone else fer help.
They's some several of the boys has tried it sence I be'n there but
they never tried it but onct. _An' that goes_!" The girl turned away
with a contemptuous sniff.

"Jennie!" The Texan was smiling. "This is a little different case, I
reckon."

"They're all different cases," she retorted. "But everything's be'n
tried from a sister come on a unexpected visit, to slippin' me
five--Cinnabar Joe tended to that one's case hisself, an' he done a
good job, too. So you might's well save yer wind 'cause there ain't
nothin' you can think up to say that'll fool me a little bit. I ain't
worked around hotels fer it's goin' on six years fer nothin', an' I
wouldn't trust no man--cowboys an' drummers least of all."

"Listen, Jennie, I ain't tryin' to tell you I wouldn't. Only this
time, I ain't. If I was, don't you suppose I've got sense enough not
to go to you to help me with it?" The girl waited with all outward
appearance of skepticism for him to proceed. "This girl went ridin'
with Jack Purdy--he borrowed the side-saddle from Cinnabar----"

"Did Cinnabar loan him that saddle fer any such----?"

"Hold on, now, Cinnabar don't know nothin' about it. Purdy wants to
borrow his side-saddle an' Joe says sure."

"He might of know'd if Purdy wanted it, it wasn't fer no good. You're
all bad enough, goodness knows, but he was the worst of the lot. I
hate Purdy an' you bet he cuts a big circle wh