ons. Probably not one man in ten was fortunate enough to
have no one "looking for him," and the lighted interior assured good
hunting to any one in the dark street. He was continually opening the
door, which every newcomer promptly and forcibly slammed shut. When he
saw men walk across the room for the express purpose of slamming it he
began to cherish the idea that there was a conspiracy on foot to anger
him and thus force him to bring about his own death.

After the door had been slammed three times in one evening by one man,
the last slam being so forcible as to shake two bottles from the shelf
and to crack the door itself, he became positive that his suspicions
were correct, and so was very careful to smile and take it as a joke.
Finally, wearied by his vain efforts to keep it open and fearing for the
door, he hit upon a scheme, the brilliancy of which inflated his chest
and gave him the appearance of a prize-winning bantam. When his patrons
strolled in that night there was no door to slam, as it lay behind the
bar.

When Buck and Red entered, closely followed by Hopalong, they elbowed
their way to the rear of the room, where they could see before being
seen. As yet they had said nothing to Hopalong about Pie's warning and
were debating in their minds whether they should do so or not, when
Hopalong interrupted their thoughts by laughing. They looked up and he
nodded toward the front, where they saw that anxious eyes from all parts
of the room were focused on the open door. Then they noticed that it had
been removed.

The air of semi-hostile, semi-anxious inquiry of the patrons and the
smile of satisfaction covering the face of Baum appealed to them as the
most ludicrous sight their eyes had seen for months, and they leaned
back and roared with laughter, thus calling forth sundry looks of
disapproval from the innocent causes of their merriment. But they were
too well known in Albuquerque to allow the disapproval to approach a
serious end, and finally, as the humorous side of the situation dawned
on the crowd, they joined in the laugh and all went merrily.

At the psychologic moment some one shouted for a dance and the
suggestion met with uproarious approval. At that moment Harris, the
sheriff, came in and volunteered to supply the necessary music if the
crowd would pay the fine against a straying fiddler he had corraled the
day before. A hat was quickly passed and a sum was realized which would
pay several fine