“That was lovely,” said Eve.  “Oh, dear, I’ve often wished I’d been a man!”

“H’m; well, every one to his taste.  But look here, Miss Walton, you’re certain I’m not boring you to death?”

“Quite.  What did you do with all that money?  And how much did a month’s wages amount to?”

“About ninety dollars.  You get three a day and work seven days a week.  But, of course, I owed a good deal of that ninety by the time I got it.  Well, I paid my bills and then did a fool thing.  I got my laundry out of the Chinaman’s, put on a stiff shirt and went over to Colorado Springs.  It just seemed that I had to have a glimpse of—­well, you know; respectability—­dress clothes—­music—­flowers.  I remember how stiff and uncomfortable that shirt felt and how my collar scratched my neck.  When I got over to the Springs I ran across some folks I’d known back home in Virginia.  Richmond folks, they were.  I dined with them and had a fine time.  I forgot to tell them I’d been pushing a shovel with the Pinheads—­that is, Swedes.  They asked me to be sure and visit them when I went back to Virginia for Christmas, for of course I would go!  I told ’em I’d do that very thing.  Rather a joke, wasn’t it?  If railroads had been selling at forty dollars a pair I couldn’t have bought a headlight!  I went back to Cripple the next day, having spent most of my money, feeling sort of grouchy and down on my luck.  That night I thought I’d have a go at the wheel—­roulette, you know.  I’d steered pretty clear of that sort of thing up to then, but I didn’t much care that night what happened.  I only had about fifteen dollars and I played it dollar by dollar and couldn’t win once.  Finally I was down to my last.  I remember I took that out of my pocket and looked at it quite awhile.  Then I put it back and started to go.  But before I’d reached the door I concluded that a dollar wasn’t much better than none in Cripple, and so I went back to the table.  It was pretty crowded and I had to work my way in until I could reach it.  Just when I got my dollar out again and was going to toss it on, blind, some one took hold of my arm and pulled me around.  I’d never seen the fellow before and I started to get peeved.  But he—­may I use his words?  They weren’t polite, but they were persuasive.  Said he:  ’Put that back in your pocket, you damned fool, and come out of here.”

Wade looked anxiously at his audience to see if she was shocked.  She didn’t look so; only eager and sympathetic.  He went on.

“Well, I went.  He lugged me over to his room across the street and—­and was hospitable.  He made me talk and I told him how I was fixed.  He told me who he was and said he thought he could find a job for me.  And he did.  He was partner with a man named Hogan in an assay office and knew a good many mine managers and superintendents.  The next day I went to work running an air-drill at four dollars a day.  That’s how I met Ed. We got to be pretty good friends after that.