remarked, "I thought I was chewing a hammock." We had strange
coffee, and condensed milk; and I have never seen more flies. I
made no attempt to talk, for no one in this country seemed
favorable to me. By reason of something,--my clothes, my hat, my
pronunciation, whatever it might be, I possessed the secret of
estranging people at sight. Yet I was doing better than I knew;
my strict silence and attention to the corned beef made me in the
eyes of the cow-boys at table compare well with the
over-talkative commercial travellers.

The Virginian's entrance produced a slight silence. He had done
wonders with the wash-trough, and he had somehow brushed his
clothes. With all the roughness of his dress, he was now the
neatest of us. He nodded to some of the other cow-boys, and began
his meal in quiet.

But silence is not the native element of the drummer. An average
fish can go a longer time out of water than this breed can live
without talking. One of them now looked across the table at the
grave, flannel-shirted Virginian; he inspected, and came to the
imprudent conclusion that he understood his man.

"Good evening," he said briskly.

"Good evening," said the Virginian.

"Just come to town?" pursued the drummer.

"Just come to town," the Virginian suavely assented.