‘Kind of quiet,’ apologized the young fellow.  ’But we’ll look ’em over.’

He struck the door open with his shoulder and Longstreet followed him into a big room sufficiently well lighted by a couple of hanging kerosene lamps.  At one side was an ancient, battered bar; behind the bar a lazy Mexican in shirt sleeves; at one end Tod Barstow pouring the cool contents of a pint bottle of some pinkish beverage directly from the throat of the bottle into his own throat; lounging idly in chairs of various interesting stages of dilapidation half a dozen men, all dark-skinned, black of moustache and hair.  Barstow’s position necessitated the fixing of his eyes upon the ceiling; all other glances, ignoring Barbee, centred upon Longstreet.  He was smiling and eager.

‘Come alive, gents!’ called Barbee genially.  ’Stack up alongside the bar and I’ll buy!  Moraga,’ to the bartender, ’you know me.  I got a real bad case of alkali throat.  Roll up, boys!—­Say, wait a minute.  Moraga, meet my friend Longstreet.’  Moraga showed many large white teeth in a friendly smile and gave into Longstreet’s keeping a small, moist and very flabby hand.  The other men, silently accepting the invitation, came forward; Barbee introduced them all.  Longstreet’s was the emotion of one being initiated into a new fraternity.

They named their poison, in the parlance of the neighbourhood, and stood to their glasses like so many valiant gunners.  Longstreet, big enough in his views of humanity, to look upon them as so many boyish souls, beamed.  Then he noted that they seemed to be waiting for something, wondered what it might be, glanced over his shoulder, looked back at them and understood.  They were waiting for him.  So he said hastily, and in their own phrase: 

‘Same thing.’

Which, of course, brought down to his place on the bar a small glass and a large bottle.  He had never done a thing like this in all the calm days of his existence, but now the deed came naturally enough.  He poured his glass and even echoed the other remarks of ‘Here’s how.’  When the fiery liquor arrived in his stomachical regions he realized with perfect clarity that it was without doubt some newly invented substitute for whisky; perhaps that jackass-brandy which he had heard of.  His emotion was twofold:  he was glad that Helen was at the hotel and he was determined not to repeat the dose.

‘That’s the goods,’ said Longstreet jocularly, trying to smack his lips.

Barbee led the way to the nearest table and out of the nowhere brought into the here a deck of cards.  Longstreet was on the verge of applauding when he noted that every one else accepted the act as a matter of fact, and subsided into himself and into a chair at the same moment.

‘Who’ll make it four-cornered?’ demanded Barbee.  ’Short, but lively while she lasts.  Little old game, name of stud horse?’

Two of the Mexicans, having hesitated and then looked to Barbee, came forward and deposited themselves carelessly in the two chairs.  Barbee shuffled, cut, shuffled again and put the cards down.