She turned upon Buck those uncertain and wistful eyes.  It was a generous face.  Mouth, cheekbones, and jaw were of vast proportions, while the forehead, eyes, and nose were as remarkably diminutive.  Her glance lowered to the floor; she shrugged her wide shoulders and began to wipe the vestiges of dishwater from her freckled hands.

“You men are terrible foolish,” she said.  “There ain’t no tellin’ what you mean by what you say.”

And she sank slowly into the chair.  It gave voice in sharp protest at her weight.  Buck Daniels retreated to the opposite side of the table and took his place.

“Ma’am,” he began, “don’t I look honest?” So saying, he slid half a dozen eggs and a section of bacon from the platter to his plate.

“I dunno,” said the maiden, with one eye upon him and the other plunging into the future.  “There ain’t no trusting men.  Take ’em by the lot and they’re awful forgetful.”

“If you knowed me better,” said Buck sadly, disposing of a slab of bread spread thick with the pale butter and following this with a pile of fried potatoes astutely balanced on his knife.  “If you knowed me better, ma’am, you wouldn’t have no suspicions.”

“What might it be that you been doin’?” asked the girl.

Buck Daniels paused in his attack on the food and stared at her.

He quoted deftly from a magazine which had once fallen in his way:  “Some day maybe I can tell you.  There’s something about your eyes that tells me you’d understand.”

At the mention of her eyes the waitress blinked and stiffened in her chair, while a huge, red fist balled itself in readiness for action.  But the expression of Buck Daniels was as blandly open as the smile of infancy.  The lady relaxed and an unmistakable blush tinged even her nose with colour.

“It ain’t after my nature to be askin’ questions,” she announced.  “You don’t have to tell me no more’n you want to.”

“Thanks,” said Buck instantly.  “I knew you was that kind.  It ain’t hard,” he went on smoothly, “to tell a lady when you see one.  I can tell you this much to start with.  I’m lookin’ for a quiet town where I can settle down permanent.  And as far as I can see, Brownsville looks sort of quiet to me.”

So saying, he disposed of the rest of his food by an act akin to legerdemain, and then fastened a keen eye upon the lady.  She was in the midst of a struggle of some sort.  But she could not keep the truth from her tongue.

“Take it by and large,” she said at length, “Brownsville is as peaceable as most; but just now, stranger, it’s all set for a big bust.”  She turned heavily in her chair and glanced about the room.  Then she faced Daniels once more and cupped her hands about her mouth.  “Stranger,” she said in a stage whisper, “Mac Strann is in town!”

The eyes of Buck Daniels wandered.

“Don’t you know him?” she asked.

“Nope.”