the floor dotted with spittle, young painted girls from the
suburbs had mingled freely among the dark northern
women. Demetrio pulled out his jeweled gold watch, ask-
ing Anastasio Montanez to tell him the time.

Anastasio glanced at the watch, then, poking his head
out of a small window, gazed at the starry sky.

"The Pleiades are pretty low in the west. I guess it
won't be long now before daybreak. . . ."

Outside the restaurant, the shouts, laughter and song
of the drunkards rang through the air. Men galloped wild-
ly down the streets, the hoofs of their horses hammering
on the sidewalks. From every quarter of the town pis-
tols spoke, guns belched. Demetrio and the girl called
War Paint staggered tipsily hand in hand down the center
of the street, bound for the hotel.




II


"What damned fools," said War Paint convulsed with
laughter! "Where the hell do you come from?..... Soldiers
don't sleep in hotels and inns any more....... Where do
you come from? You just go anywhere you like and
pick a house that pleases you, see. When you go there,