Stevefeignedindifference。HewasfarmoredeeplyabsorbedinhisbetandtheAmericandrummerthanhewasinthisgame；buthechosetotakeoutafat，floridgoldwatch，consultitelaborately，andremark，“It’sonlyeleven。“
　　“Yu’forgetI’mfromthecountry，“saidtheblack-headedguy。
　　“Thechickenshavebeenroostin’arightsmartwhile。“
　　HissunnySouthernaccentwasagainstrong。InthatbriefpassagewithTrampasithadbeenalmostwhollyabsent。Butdifferentmoodsofthespiritbringdifferentqualitiesofutterance——whereamancomesbythesenaturally。TheVirginiancashedinhischecks。
　　“Awhileago，“saidSteve，“youhadwonthreemonths’salary。“
　　“I’mstilltwentydollarstothegood，“saidtheVirginian。
　　“That’sbetterthanbreakingalaig。“
　　Again，insomevoiceless，masonicway，mostpeopleinthatsaloonhadbecomeawarethatsomethingwasinprocessofhappening。
　　Severallefttheirgamesandcametothefrontbythebar。
　　“Ifheain’tinbedyet——“musedtheVirginian。
　　“I’llfindout，“saidI。AndIhurriedacrosstothedimsleepingroom，happytohaveapartinthis。
　　Theywereallinbed；andinsomebedstwoweresleeping。Howtheycoulddoit——butinthosedaysIwasfastidious。TheAmericanhadcomeinrecentlyandwasstillawake。
　　“Thoughtyouweretosleepatthestore？“saidhe。
　　SothenIinventedalittlelie，andexplainedthatIwasinsearchoftheVirginian“Bettersearchthedives，“saidhe。“Thesecow-boysdon’tgettotownoften。“
　　AtthispointIstumbledsharplyoversomething。
　　“It’smyboxofConsumptionKiller，“explainedthedrummer；
　　“Well，Ihopethatmanwillstayoutallnight。“
　　“Bednarrow？“Iinquired。
　　“Fortwoitis。Andthepillowsaremean。Takesbothbeforeyoufeelanything’sunderyourhead。“
　　Heyawned，andIwishedhimpleasantdreamsAtmynewstheVirginianleftthebaratonce；andcrossedtothesleepingroom。SteveandIfollowedsoftly，andbehindusseveralmorestrungoutinanexpectantline。“Whatisthisgoingtobe？“
　　theyinquiredcuriouslyofeachother。Anduponlearningthegreatnoveltyoftheevent，theyclusteredwithsilenceintenseoutsidethedoorwheretheVirginianhadgonein。
　　Weheardthevoiceofthedrummer，cautioninghisbed-fellow。
　　“Don’ttripovertheKiller，“hewassaying。“ThePrinceofWalesbarkedhisshinjustnow。“ItseemedmyEnglishclotheshadearnedmethistitle。
　　ThebootsoftheVirginianwerenextheardtodrop。
　　“Canyu’makeoutwhathe’sat？“whisperedSteve。
　　Hewasplainlyundressing。Theripofswiftunbuttoningtoldusthattheblack-headedguymustnowberemovinghisoveralls。
　　“Why，thankyu’，no，“hewasreplyingtoaquestionofthedrummer。“Outsideorin’sallonetome。“
　　“Then，ifyou’djustassoontakethewall——“
　　“Why，cert’nly。“Therewasasoundofbedclothes，andcreaking。
　　“Thishyehpillo’needsaSouthernclimate，“wastheVirginian’snextobservation。
　　Manylistenershadnowgatheredatthedoor。Thedealerandtheplayerwerebothhere。Thestorekeeperwaspresent，andI
　　recognizedtheagentoftheUnionPacificRailroadamongthecrowd。Wemadealargecompany，andIfeltthattremblingsensationwhichiscommonwhenthecapofacameraisabouttoberemoveduponagroup。
　　“Ishouldthink，“saidthedrummer’svoice，“thatyou’dfeelyourknifeandguncleanthroughthatpillow。“
　　“Ido，“respondedtheVirginian。
　　“Ishouldthinkyou’dputthemonachairandbecomfortable。“
　　“I’dbeuncomfortable，then。“
　　“Usedtothefeelofthem，Isuppose？“
　　“That’sit。Usedtothefeelofthem。Iwouldmissthem，andthatwouldmakemewakeful。“
　　“Well，goodnight。“
　　“Goodnight。IfIgettotalkin’andtossin’，orwhatnot，you’llunderstandyou’reto——“
　　“Yes，I’llwakeyou。“
　　“No，don’tyu’，forGod’ssake！“
　　“Not？“
　　“Don’tyu’touchme。“
　　“What’llIdo？“
　　“Rollawayquicktoyourside。Itdon’tlastbutaminute。“TheVirginianspokewithareassuringdrawl。
　　Uponthistherefellabriefsilence，andIheardthedrummerclearhisthroatonceortwice。
　　“It’smerelythenightmare，Isuppose？“hesaidafterathroatclearing。
　　“Lord，yes。That’sall。Anddon’thappentwiceayear。Wasyouthinkin’itwasfits？“
　　“Oh，no！Ijustwantedtoknow。I’vebeentoldbeforethatitwasnotsafeforapersontobewakedsuddenlythatwayoutofanightmare。“
　　“Yes，Ihaveheardthattoo。Butitneverharmsmeany。Ididn’twantyoutorunrisks。“
　　“Me？“
　　“Oh，it’llbeallrightnowthatyu’knowhowitis。“TheVirginian’sdrawlwasfullofassurance。
　　Therewasasecondpause，afterwhichthedrummersaid。
　　“Tellmeagainhowitis。“
　　TheVirginianansweredverydrowsily:“Oh，justdon’tletyourarmoryourlaigtouchmeifIgotojumpin’around。I’mdreamin’
　　ofIndianswhenIdothat。Andifanythingtouchesmethen，I’mliabletograbmykniferightinmysleep。“
　　“Oh，Iunderstand，“saidthedrummer，clearinghisthroat。“Yes。“
　　Stevewaswhisperingdelightedoathstohimself，andinhisjoyapplyingtotheVirginianoneunprintablenameafteranother。
　　Welistenedagain，butnownofurtherwordscame。Listeningveryhard，Icouldhalfmakeouttheprogressofaheavybreathing，andarestlessturningIcouldclearlydetect。Thiswasthewretcheddrummer。Hewaswaiting。Buthedidnotwaitlong。Againtherewasalightcreak，andafteritalightstep。Hewasnotevengoingtoputhisbootsoninthefatalneighborhoodofthedreamer。ByahappythoughtMedicineBowformedintotwolines，makinganavenuefromthedoor。AndthenthecommercialtravellerforgothisConsumptionKiller。Hefellheavilyoverit。
　　ImmediatelyfromthebedtheVirginiangaveforthadreadfulhowl。
　　Andtheneverythinghappenedatonce；andhowshallmerewordsnarrateit？Thedoorburstopen，andoutflewthecommercialtravellerinhisstockings。Onehandheldalumpofcoatandtrouserswithsuspendersdangling，hisbootswereclutchedintheother。Thesightofusstoppedhisflightshort。Hegazed，thebootsfellfromhishand；andathisprofaneexplosion，MedicineBowsetupaunited，unearthlynoiseandbegantoplayVirginiareelwithhim。Theotheroccupantsofthebedshadalreadysprungoutofthem，clothedchieflywiththeirpistols，andreadyforwar。“Whatisit？“theydemanded。“Whatisit？“
　　“Why，Ireckonit’sdrinksonSteve，“saidtheVirginianfromhisbed。AndhegavethefirstbroadgrinthatIhadseenfromhim。
　　“I’llset’emupallnight！“Steveshouted，asthereelwentonregardless。Thedrummerwasbawlingtobeallowedtoputatleasthisbootson。“Thisway，Pard，“wastheanswer；andanothermanwhirledhimround。“Thisway，Beau！“theycalledtohim；“Thisway，Budd！“andhewaspassedlikeashuttle-cockdowntheline。
　　Suddenlytheleadersboundedintothesleeping-room。“Feedthemachine！“theysaid。“Feedher！“AndseizingtheGermandrummerwhosoldjewellery，theyflunghimintothetroughofthereel。I
　　sawhimgobouncinglikeanearofcorntobeshelled，andthedanceingulfedhim。IsawaJewsentrattlingafterhim；andnexttheythrewintherailroademployee，andtheotherJew；andwhileIstoodmesmerized，myownfeetlefttheearth。Ishotfromtheroomandspedlikeabobbingcorkintothismillrace，whirlingmyturninthewakeoftheothersamidcriesof，“HerecomesthePrinceofWales！“TherewassoonnotmuchEnglishleftaboutmyraiment。
　　Theywerenowshoutingformusic。MedicineBowsweptinlikeacloudofdusttowhereafiddlersatplayinginahall；andgatheringupfiddleranddancers，sweptoutagain，alargerMedicineBow，growingallthewhile。Steveofferedusthefreedomofthehouse，everywhere。Heimploredustocallforwhateverpleasedus，andasmanytimesasweshouldplease。Heorderedthetowntobesearchedformorecitizenstocomeandhelphimpayhisbet。Butchanginghismind，kegsandbottleswerenowcarriedalongwithus。Wehadfoundthreefiddlers，andtheseplayedbusilyforus；andthuswesetouttovisitallcabinsandhouseswherepeoplemightstillbysomemiraclebeasleep。Thefirstmanputouthisheadtodecline。Butsuchapossibilityhadbeenforeseenbytheproprietorofthestore。Thisseeminglyrespectablemannowcamedraggingsomesortofapparatusfromhisplace，helpedbytheVirginian。Thecow-boyscheered，fortheyknewwhatthiswas。Themaninhiswindowlikewiserecognizedit，andutteringagroan，cameimmediatelyoutandjoinedus。Whatitwas，Ialsolearnedinafewminutes。Forwefoundahousewherethepeoplemadenosignateitherourfiddlersorourknocking。
　　Andthentheinfernalmachinewassettowork。Itspartsseemedtobenomorethananemptykegandaplank。SomecitizeninformedmethatIshouldsoonhaveanewideaofnoise；andI
　　nervedmyselfforsomethingsevereinthewayofgunpowder。ButtheVirginianandtheproprietornowsatonthegroundholdingthekegbraced，andtwoothersgotdownapparentlytoplaysee-sawoverthetopofitwiththeplank。Butthekegandplankhadbeenrubbedwithrosin，andtheydrewtheplankbackandforthoverthekeg。Doyouknowthesoundmadeinanarrowstreetbyadrayloadedwithstripsofiron？Thatnoiseisalullabycomparedwiththestaggering，blindingbellowwhichrosefromthekeg。Ifyouweretotryitinyournativetown，youwouldnotmerelybearrested，youwouldbehanged，andeverybodywouldbeglad，andtheclergymanwouldnotburyyou。Myhead，myteeth，thewholesystemofmybonesleapedandchatteredatthedin，andoutofthehouselikedropssquirtedfromalemoncameamanandhiswife。Notimewasgiventhem。Theyweresweptalongwiththerest；andhavingbeenroutedfromtheirownbed，theynowbecamemostfuriousinassailingtheremaininghomesofMedicineBow。
　　Everybodywastocomeout。Manywerenowridinghorsesattopspeedoutintotheplainsandback，whiletheprocessionoftheplankandkegcontinueditswork，andthefiddlersplayedincessantly。
　　Suddenlytherewasaquiet。Ididnotseewhobroughtthemessage；butthewordranamongusthattherewasawoman——theengineer’swomandownbythewater-tank——verysick。ThedoctorhadbeentoseeherfromLaramie。Everybodylikedtheengineer。
　　Plankandkegwereheardnomore。Thehorsemenfounditoutandrestrainedtheirgambols。MedicineBowwentgraduallyhome。Isawdoorsshutting，andlightsgoout；Isawalatefewreassembleatthecardtables，andthedrummersgatheredthemselvestogetherforsleep；theproprietorofthestoreyoucouldnotseeamorerespectable-lookingpersonhopedthatIwouldbecomfortableonthequilts；andIheardSteveurgingtheVirginiantotakeonemoreglass。
　　“We’venotmetforsolong，“hesaid。
　　ButtheVirginian，theblack-headedguywhohadsetallthisnonsensegoing，saidNotoSteve。“Ihavegottostayresponsible，“washisexcusetohisfriend。Andthefriendlookedatme。ThereforeIsurmisedthattheJudge’strustworthymanfoundmeanembarrassmenttohisholiday。Butifhedid，henevershowedittome。HehadbeensenttomeetastrangeranddrivehimtoSunkCreekinsafety，andthischargehewouldallownotemptationtoimperil。Henoddedgoodnighttome。“Ifthere’sanythingIcandoforyu’，you’lltellme。“
　　Ithankedhim。“Whatapleasantevening！“Iadded。
　　“I’mgladyu’founditso。“
　　Againhismannerputabartomyapproaches。EventhoughIhadseenhimwildlydisportinghimself，thosewerematterswhichhechosenottodiscusswithme。
　　MedicineBowwasquietasIwentmywaytomyquilts。Sostill，thatthroughtheairthedeepwhistlesofthefreighttrainscamefrombelowthehorizonacrossgreatmilesofsilence。Ipassedcow-boys，whomhalfanhourbeforeIhadseenprancingandroaring，nowrolledintheirblanketsbeneaththeopenandshiningnight。
　　“WhatworldamIin？“Isaidaloud。“DoesthissameplanetholdFifthAvenue？“
　　AndIwenttosleep，ponderingovermynativeland。