ing to harden one's muscles."

They set off down the one business street of which Columbina boasted.
They had to pick their way carefully along the dilapidated boardwalk. At
one point they came opposite O'Brian's Hotel. Downstairs was a saloon,
and in this a noisy bunch were talking and singing.

"I don't know as I would care to stop there," remarked Randy. "It looks
like rather a tough hole to me."

"You are right," responded Jack. "I'd rather go to some private house,
if I could find one, or else buy a tent and hire a place where we could
pitch it."

"Gee, that's an idea!" cried Andy. "I'd much rather go camping out and
do my own cooking than put up with just any old thing."

At length they came to Smedley's Hotel. It was a new building, three
stories in height, with a restaurant occupying one-half of the lower
floor. Half a dozen men were occupying chairs on the front piazza, and
they eyed the newcomers curiously.

"Looks fairly clean, anyway," whispered Fred to his cousins. "I wouldn't
want to get into some old ranch that was full of bugs."

The office of the hotel was about twelve feet square, with a sanded
floor. On one side was a plain wooden settee, and on the other an
equally plain counter on which rested a register and a bell. Behind the
counter was a tall, freckle-faced man with a shock of red hair.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said hospitably. "What can I do for
you?"

"We want to know if we can be accommodated here," answered Dick Rover.
"There are five of us."

"How long do you want to stay?"

"I don't know exactly. Several days at least, and maybe a week or two."

"I see." The hotel proprietor scratched his head thoughtfully. "I've got
one big room left and one small room directly opposite. The small room
has only a single bed in it, but the other room has a double bed and I
could easily put two cots in there besides that."

"Would you mind showing us the quarters?" questioned Jack's father.
Experience had taught him when in out-of-the-way places not to accept
hotel accommodations until he had inspected them.

"Sure thing, Brother. Just follow me."

The boys waited below while Dick Rover and the hotel man went upstairs.
A minute later they came down, and then Jack's father registered for the
entire crowd.

"You pay for your meals in the restaurant when you get 'em," announced
the hotel man. "The rooms are separate. Three dollars each per day."

The rooms to which they had been ass