d I was a miner
and not a Dago. You see, I felt independently rich with a month's wages
in my jeans--pockets, that is. The boss said I could quit. I've been
wondering ever since," laughed Wade, "whether I quit or was fired."

"That was lovely," said Eve. "Oh, dear, I've often wished I'd been a
man!"

"H'm; well, every one to his taste. But look here, Miss Walton, you're
certain I'm not boring you to death?"

"Quite. What did you do with all that money? And how much did a month's
wages amount to?"

"About ninety dollars. You get three a day and work seven days a week.
But, of course, I owed a good deal of that ninety by the time I got it.
Well, I paid my bills and then did a fool thing. I got my laundry out of
the Chinaman's, put on a stiff shirt and went over to Colorado Springs.
It just seemed that I had to have a glimpse of--well, you know;
respectability--dress clothes--music--flowers. I remember how stiff and
uncomfortable that shirt felt and how my collar scratched my neck. When
I got over to the Springs I ran across some folks I'd known back home in
Virginia. Richmond folks, they were. I dined with them and had a fine
time. I forgot to tell them I'd been pushing a shovel with the
Pinheads--that is, Swedes. They asked me to be sure and visit them when
I went back to Virginia for Christmas, for of course I would go! I told
'em I'd do that very thing. Rather a joke, wasn't it? If railroads had
been selling at forty dollars a pair I couldn't have bought a headlight!
I went back to Cripple the next day, having spent most of my money,
feeling sort of grouchy and down on my luck. That night I thought I'd
have a go at the wheel--roulette, you know. I'd steered pretty clear of
that sort of thing up to then, but I didn't much care that night what
happened. I only had about fifteen dollars and I played it dollar by
dollar and couldn't win once. Finally I was down to my last. I remember
I took that out of my pocket and looked at it quite awhile. Then I put
it back and started to go. But before I'd reached the door I concluded
that a dollar wasn't much better than none in Cripple, and so I went
back to the table. It was pretty crowded and I had to work my way in
until I could reach it. Just when I got my dollar out again and was
going to toss it on, blind, some one took hold of my arm and pulled me
around. I'd never seen the fellow before and I started to get peeved.
But he--may I use his words? They weren't polite, but th