He had a moustache and was most mild
looking and about thirty-four. He was dressed in ordinary clothes, with
a bowler hat, only no waistcoat, and a great leather belt round his
waist. He expressed himself as proud to meet us, and when he heard I was
married, too, his eyebrows went up in the most comic way. "Guess they
pair in the kid pens over there," he said! He was standing below us on
the track, with his hands in both his trouser pockets, while he looked
up at us with gentle grey eyes.
"Will you show our ladies how you can shoot, Bill?" the Senator asked,
and Octavia and I implored him to be kind and do so. "Runs rather fine,"
he said, spitting slowly to some distance; "reckon she's about levantin,
but I never refuse ladies' requests." Nelson had rushed to the dining
saloon and was back as he spoke with two empty bottles. "Bill's" train
was just going to move, already making groaning noises. He put his hand
under his coat in a leisurely way and pulled out his "gun" (you can be
arrested immediately for wearing one concealed)! Then his train gave a
snort and got slowly in motion, so he was obliged to run. He turned his
head over his shoulders and looked back as Nelson flung one bottle in
the air--bang! It went into atoms on the ground, and then, as he had
almost reached the steps, running at full speed now, the Senator flung
the other.
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