Lucky and the Kid inquired respectfully regarding her health, her journey down the river, her reasons for being here; then when they had drawn her aside the former interrupted her flow of explanations to say: 

“Listen, Letty.  We got just one real question to ask and we’d like a straight answer.  Have you got any kick against this Frenchman?”

“Any kick of any kind?” queried Bridges.  “We’re your friends; you can tip us off.”

The sudden change in the tone of their voices caused the girl to start and to stare at them.  She saw that both men were in sober earnest; the reason behind their solicitude she apprehended.

She laid a hand upon the arm of each.  Her eyes were very bright when she began:  “’Poleon told me how you came to his tent that morning after—­you know, and he told me what you said.  Well, it wasn’t necessary.  He’s the dearest thing that ever lived!”

“Why’d he put you to work in a place like this?” Bridges roughly demanded.

“He didn’t.  He begged me not to try it.  He offered me all he has—­ his last dollar.  He—­”

Swiftly, earnestly, Rouletta told how the big woodsman had cared for her; how tenderly, faithfully, he had nursed her back to health and strength; how he had cast all his plans to the winds in order to bring her down the river.  “He’s the best, the kindest, the most generous man I ever knew,” she concluded.  “His heart is clean and—­his soul is full of music.”

“’Sta bueno!” cried Lucky Broad, in genuine relief.  “We had a hunch he was right, but—­you can’t always trust those Asiatic races.”

Ben Miller appeared and warmly greeted his new employee.  “Rested up, eh?  Well, it’s going to be a big night.  Where’s Agnes—­the other one?  Has she got cold feet?”

“No, just a cold nose.  Here she is.”  From a small bag on her arm Rouletta drew Sam Kirby’s six-shooter.  “Agnes was my father’s friend.  Nobody ever ran out on her.”

Miller blinked, he uttered a feeble exclamation, then he burst into a mighty laugh.  He was still shaking, his face was purple, there were tears of mirth in his eyes, when he followed Broad, Bridges, and Rouletta into the gambling-room.

There were several players at the faro-table when the girl took her place.  Removing her gloves, she stowed them away in her bag.  From this bag she extracted the heavy Colt’s revolver, then opened the drawer before her and laid it inside.  She breathed upon her fingers, rubbing the circulation back into them, and began to shuffle the cards.  Slipping them into the box, the girl settled herself in her chair and looked up into a circle of grinning faces.  Before her level gaze eyes that had been focused queerly upon her fell.  The case-keeper’s lips were twitching, but he bit down upon them.  Gravely he said: 

“Well, boys, let’s go!”

CHAPTER XXI