d, suh," addressed the Colonel, to me.
"Allow me to interdeuce you. Shake hands with my friend Mr. Bill Brady.
Bill, I present to you a fellow-citizen of mine from grand old New York
State."

The frowsy man struggled up, shifted his revolver so as not to sit on it,
and extended his hand.

"Proud to make yore acquaintance, sir. Any friend of the Colonel's is a
friend o' mine."

"We will likker up directly," the Colonel informed. "But fust the
gentleman desires to attend to his person. Mr. Brady, suh," he continued,
for my benefit, "is one of our leading citizens, being proprietor of--what
is it now, Bill?"

"Wall," said Mr. Brady, "I've pulled out o' the Last Chance and I'm on
spec'. The Last Chance got a leetle too much on the brace for healthy
play; and when that son of a gun of a miner from South Pass City shot it
up, I quit."

"Naturally," conceded the Colonel. "Mr. Brady," he explained, "has been
one of our most distinguished bankers, but he has retired from that
industry and is considering other investments."

"The bath-room? Where is it, gentlemen?" I ventured.

"If you will step outside the door, suh, you can hear the splashing down
the hall. It is the custom, however, foh gentlemen at tub to keep the
bath-room door closed, in case of ladies promenading. You will have time
foh your preliminary toilet and foh a little refreshment and a pasear in
town. I judge, with five ahead of you and one in, the clerk was mighty
near right when he said about two hours. That allows twenty minutes to
each gentleman, which is the limit. A gentleman who requires more than
twenty minutes to insure his respectability, suh, is too dirty foh such
accommodations. He should resort to the river. Ain't that so, Bill?"

"Perfectly correct, Colonel. I kin take an all-over, myself, in fifteen,
whenever it's healthy."

"But a dollar and a half for a twenty minutes' bath in a public tub is
rather steep, seems to me," said I, as I removed my coat and opened my
bag.

"Not so, suh, if I may question your judgment," the Colonel reproved. "The
tub, suh, is private to the person in it. He is never intruded upon unless
he hawgs his time or the water disagrees with him. The water, suh, is
hauled from the river by a toilsome journey of three miles. You
understand, suh, that this great and growing city is founded upon the
sheer face of the Red Desert, where the railroad stopped--the river being
occupied by a Government reservation named Fort