"Cattle business jumping along?" inquired the drummer.

"Oh, fair." And the Virginian took some more corned beef.

"Gets a move on your appetite, anyway," suggested the drummer.

The Virginian drank some coffee. Presently the pretty woman
refilled his cup without his asking her.

"Guess I've met you before," the drummer stated next.

The Virginian glanced at him for a brief moment.

"Haven't I, now? Ain't I seen you somewhere? Look at me. You been
in Chicago, ain't you? You look at me well. Remember Ikey's,
don't you?"

"I don't reckon I do."

"See, now! I knowed you'd been in Chicago. Four or five years
ago. Or maybe it's two years. Time's nothing to me. But I never
forget a face. Yes, sir. Him and me's met at Ikey's, all right."
This important point the drummer stated to all of us. We were
called to witness how well he had proved old acquaintanceship.
"Ain't the world small, though!" he exclaimed complacently. "Meet
a man once and you're sure to run on to him again. That's
straight. That's no bar-room josh." And the drummer's eye
included us all in his confidence. I wondered if he had attained
that high perfection when a man believes his own lies.