“Oh，yes，“returnedthebed-fellow，andwasgone。
TheAmericandrummerwinkedtriumphantlyathisbrethren。“He’sallright，“heobserved，jerkingathumbaftertheVirginian。
“He’seasy。Yougottoknowhimtoworkhim。That’sall。“
“Undvatisyourpoint？“inquiredtheGermandrummer。
“Pointis——he’llnottakeanygoodsoffyouorme；buthe’sgoingtotalkupthekillertoanyconsumptiveherunsacross。Iain’tdonewithhimyet。Say，“(henowaddressedtheproprietor)，“what’shername？“
“Whosename？“
“Womanrunstheeating-house。“
“Glen。Mrs。Glen。“
“Ain’tshenew？“
“Beensettledhereaboutamonth。Husband’safreightconductor。“
“ThoughtI’dnotseenherbefore。She’sagood-looker。“
“Hm！Yes。ThekindofgoodlooksI’dsoonerseeinanotherman’swifethanmine。“
“Sothat’sthegait，isit？“
“Hm！well，itdon’tseemtobe。Shecomeherewiththatreputation。Butthere’sbeengeneraldisappointment。“
“Thensheain’tlackedsuitorsany？“
“Lacked！Areyouacquaintedwithcow-boys？“
“Andshedisappointed’em？Maybeshelikesherhusband？“
“Hm！well，howareyoutotellaboutthemsilentkind？“
“Talkingofconductors，“beganthedrummer。Andwelistenedtohisanecdote。Itwassuccessfulwithhisaudience；butwhenhelaunchedfluentlyuponasecondIstrolledout。Therewasnotenoughwitinthisnarratortorelievehisindecency，andIfeltshameathavingbeensurprisedintolaughingwithhim。
Ileftthatcompanygrowingconfidentialovertheirleeringstories，andIsoughtthesaloon。Itwasveryquietandorderly。
BeerinquartbottlesatadollarIhadnevermetbefore；butsavingitsprice，Ifoundnocomplainttomakeofit。ThroughfoldingdoorsIpassedfromthebarproperwithitsbottlesandelkheadbacktothehallwithitsvarioustables。Isawamanslidingcardsfromacase，andacrossthetablefromhimanothermanlayingcountersdown。Nearbywasaseconddealerpullingcardsfromthebottomofapack，andoppositehimasolemnoldrusticpilingandchangingcoinsuponthecardswhichlayalreadyexposed。
ButnowIheardavoicethatdrewmyeyestothefarcorneroftheroom。
“Whydidn’tyoustayinArizona？“
HarmlesslookingwordsasIwritethemdownhere。YetatthesoundofthemInoticedtheeyesoftheothersdirectedtothatcorner。WhatanswerwasgiventothemIdidnothear，nordidI
seewhospoke。Thencameanotherremark。
“Well，Arizona’snoplaceforamatures。“
ThistimethetwocarddealersthatIstoodnearbegantogiveapartoftheirattentiontothegroupthatsatinthecorner。
Therewasinmeadesiretoleavethisroom。SofarmyhoursatMedicineBowhadseemedtoglidebeneathasunshineofmerriment，ofeasy-goingjocularity。Thiswassuddenlygone，likethewindchangingtonorthinthemiddleofawarmday。ButIstayed，beingashamedtogo。
Fiveorsixplayerssatoverinthecornerataroundtablewherecounterswerepiled。Theireyeswerecloseupontheircards，andoneseemedtobedealingacardatatimetoeach，withpausesandbettingbetween。StevewasthereandtheVirginian；theotherswerenewfaces。
“Noplaceforamatures，“repeatedthevoice；andnowIsawthatitwasthedealer’s。Therewasinhiscountenancethesameuglinessthathiswordsconveyed。
“Who’sthattalkin’？“saidoneofthemennearme，inalowvoice。
“Trampas。“
“What’she？“
“Cow-puncher，bronco-buster，tin-horn，mostanything。“
“Who’shetalkin’at？“
“Thinkit’stheblack-headedguyhe’stalkingat。“
“Thatain’tsupposedtobesafe，isit？“
“Guesswe’reallgoin’tofindoutinafewminutes。“
“Beentroublebetween’em？“
“They’venotmetbefore。Trampasdon’tenjoylosin’toastranger。“
“Fello’sfromArizona，yu’say？“
“No。Virginia。He’srecentlybackfromhavin’alookatArizona。
Wentdowntherelastyearforachange。WorksfortheSunkCreekoutfit。“Andthenthedealerloweredhisvoicestillfurtherandsaidsomethingintheotherman’sear，causinghimtogrin。Afterwhichbothofthemlookedatme。
Therehadbeensilenceoverinthecorner；butnowthemanTrampasspokeagain。
“ANDten，“saidhe，slidingoutsomechipsfrombeforehim。Verystrangeitwastohearhim，howhecontrivedtomakethosewordsapersonaltaunt。TheVirginianwaslookingathiscards。Hemighthavebeendeaf。
“ANDtwenty，“saidthenextplayer，easily。
Thenextthrewhiscardsdown。
ItwasnowtheVirginian’sturntobet，orleavethegame，andhedidnotspeakatonce。
ThereforeTrampasspoke。“Yourbet，youson-of-a。“
TheVirginian’spistolcameout，andhishandlayonthetable，holdingitunaimed。Andwithavoiceasgentleasever，thevoicethatsoundedalmostlikeacaress，butdrawlingaverylittlemorethanusual，sothattherewasalmostaspacebetweeneachword，heissuedhisorderstothemanTrampas:“Whenyoucallmethat，SMILE。“AndhelookedatTrampasacrossthetable。
Yes，thevoicewasgentle。Butinmyearsitseemedasifsomewherethebellofdeathwasringing；andsilence，likeastroke，fellonthelargeroom。Allmenpresent，asifbysomemagneticcurrent，hadbecomeawareofthiscrisis。Inmyignorance，andthetotalstoppageofmythoughts，Istoodstock-still，andnoticedvariouspeoplecrouching，orshiftingtheirpositions。
“Sitquiet，“saidthedealer，scornfullytothemannearme。
“Can’tyouseehedon’twanttopushtrouble？HehashandedTrampasthechoicetobackdownordrawhissteel。“
Then，withequalsuddennessandease，theroomcameoutofitsstrangeness。Voicesandcards，theclickofchips，thepuffoftobacco，glassesliftedtodrink，——thislevelofsmoothrelaxationhintednomoreplainlyofwhatlaybeneaththandoesthesurfacetellthedepthofthesea。
ForTrampashadmadehischoice。Andthatchoicewasnotto“drawhissteel。“Ifitwasknowledgethathesought，hehadfoundit，andnomistake！Weheardnofurtherreferencetowhathehadbeenpleasedtostyle“amatures。“Innocompanywouldtheblack-headedmanwhohadvisitedArizonaberatedanoviceatthecoolartofself-preservation。
Onedoubtremained:whatkindofamanwasTrampas？Apublicback-downisanunfinishedthing，——forsomenaturesatleast。I
lookedathisface，andthoughtitsullen，buttrickyratherthancourageous。
SomethinghadbeenaddedtomyknowledgealsoOnceagainIhadheardappliedtotheVirginianthatepithetwhichStevesofreelyused。Thesamewords，identicaltotheletter。Butthistimetheyhadproducedapistol。“Whenyoucallmethat，SMILE！“SoI
perceivedanewexampleoftheoldtruth，thatthelettermeansnothinguntilthespiritgivesitlife。
Itwasforseveralminutes，Isuppose，thatIstooddrawingthesesilentmorals。Nomanoccupiedhimselfwithme。Quietvoices，andgamesofchance，andglassesliftedtodrink，continuedtobethepeacefulorderofthenight。Andintomythoughtsbrokethevoiceofthatcard-dealerwhohadalreadyspokensosagely。Healsotookhisturnatmoralizing。
“WhatdidItellyou？“heremarkedtothemanforwhomhecontinuedtodeal，andwhocontinuedtolosemoneytohim，“Tellmewhen？“
“Didn’tItellyouhe’dnotshoot？“thedealerpursuedwithcomplacence。“Yougotreadytododge。Youhadnocalltobeconcerned。He’snotthekindamanneedfeelanxiousabout。“
TheplayerlookedoverattheVirginian，doubtfully。“Well，“hesaid，“Idon’tknowwhatyoufolkscalladangerousman。“
“Nothim！“exclaimedthedealerwithadmiration。“He’sabraveman。That’sdifferent。“
TheplayerseemedtofollowthisreasoningnobetterthanIdid。
“It’snotabravemanthat’sdangerous，“continuedthedealer。
“It’sthecowardsthatscareme。“Hepausedthatthismightsinkhome。
“Fello’cameinherelas’Toosday，“hewenton。“Hegotintosomemisunderstandingaboutthedrinks。Well，sir，beforewecouldputhimoutofbusiness，he’dhurttwoperfectlyinnocentonlookers。
They’dnomoretodowithitthanyouhave，“thedealerexplainedtome。
“Weretheybadlyhurt？“Iasked。
“Oneof’emwas。He’sdiedsince。“
“Whatbecameoftheman？“
“Why，weputhimoutofbusiness，Itoldyou。Hediedthatnight。
Buttherewasnooccasionforanyofit；andthat’swhyIneverliketobearoundwherethere’sacoward。Youcan’ttell。He’llalwaysgotoshootingbeforeit’snecessary，andthere’snosecuritywhohe’llhit。Butamanlikethatblack-headedguyis(thedealerindicatedtheVirginian)needneverworryyou。Andthere’sanotherpointwhythere’snoneedtoworryabouthim:
IT’DBETOOLATE。“
Thesegoodwordsendedthemoralizingofthedealer。Hehadgivenusapieceofhismind。Henowgavethewholeofittodealingcards。Iloiteredhereandthere，neitherwelcomenorunwelcomeatpresent，watchingthecow-boysattheirplay。SavingTrampas，therewasscarceafaceamongthemthathadnotinitsomethingverylikable。Herewerelustyhorsemenriddenfromtheheatofthesun，andthewetofthestorm，todivertthemselvesawhile。
Youthuntamedsathereforanidlemoment，spendingeasilyitshard-earnedwages。Citysaloonsroseintomyvision，andI
instantlypreferredthisRockyMountainplace。Moreofdeathitundoubtedlysaw，butlessofvice，thandiditsNewYorkequivalents。
Anddeathisathingmuchcleanerthanvice。Moreover，itwasbynomeansvicethatwaswrittenuponthesewildandmanlyfaces。
Evenwherebasenesswasvisible，basenesswasnotuppermost。
Daring，laughter，endurance——thesewerewhatIsawuponthecountenancesofthecow-boys。Andthisveryfirstdayofmyknowledgeofthemmarksadatewithme。Forsomethingaboutthem，andtheideaofthem，smotemyAmericanheart，andIhaveneverforgottenit，norevershall，aslongasIlive。Intheirfleshournaturalpassionsrantumultuous；butoftenintheirspiritsathiddenatruenobility，andoftenbeneathitsunexpectedshiningtheirfigurestookonheroicstature。
ThedealerhadstyledtheVirginian“ablack-headedguy。“Thisdidwellenoughasanunflatteredportrait。JudgeHenry’strustworthyman，withwhomIwastodrivetwohundredandsixty-threemiles，certainlyhadaveryblackheadofhair。Itwasthefirstthingtonoticenow，ifoneglancedgenerallyatthetablewherehesatatcards。Buttheeyecamebacktohim——drawnbythatinexpressiblesomethingwhichhadledthedealertospeaksomuchatlengthabouthim。
Still，“black-headedguy“justlyfitshimandhisnextperformance。Hehadmadehisplanforthislikeatrueand(I
mustsay)inspireddevil。AndnowthehighlyappreciativetownofMedicineBowwastobetreatedtoamanifestationofgenius。
Hesatplayinghisstud-poker。Afteradecentperiodoflosingandwinning，whichgaveTrampasallpropertimeforachangeofluckandarepairingofhisfortunes，helookedatSteveandsaidamiably:“Howdoesbedstrikeyou？“
Iwasbesidetheirtable，learninggraduallythatstud-pokerhasinitmoreofwhatIwillcallredpepperthanhasourEasterngame。TheVirginianfollowedhisownquestion:“Bedstrikesme，“
hestated。
