第5章
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；theproprietorofthestore(youcouldnotseeamorerespectable-lookingperson)hopedthatIwouldbecomfortableonthequilts；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。