He glanced at me
distrustfully, and then at Bell with coldness and, I thought, something
of enmity in his expression.
"Well," asked Bell, as if he were addressing a stranger, "did you fix up
that matter?"
"Did I!" the man answered, in a resentful tone. "What do you suppose
I've been here two weeks for? The business is to be settled to-night.
Does that suit you, or have you got something to kick about?"
"It's all right," said Bell. "I knew you'd do it."
"Of course, you did," said the magnificent stranger. "Haven't I done it
before?"
"You have," admitted Bell. "And so have I. How do you find it at the
hotel?"
"Rocky grub. But I ain't kicking. Say--can you give me any pointers
about managing that--affair? It's my first deal in that line of
business, you know."
"No, I can't," answered Bell, after some thought. "I've tried all kinds
of ways. You'll have to try some of your own."
"Tried soft soap?"
"Barrels of it."
"Tried a saddle girth with a buckle on the end of it?"
"Never none. Started to once; and here's what I got.
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