Tex, take my advice an' keep
your gun ready for the fastest draw you ever made."
"Don't worry about me," smiled Calder. "How about yourself?"
"Hello," broke in Jacqueline from the end of the table. "Look who
we've picked in the draw!"
Her voice was musical, but her accent and manner were those of a girl
who has lived all her life among men and has caught their ways--with
an exaggeration of that self-confidence which a woman always feels
among Western men. Her blue eyes were upon Dan.
"Ain't you a long ways from home?" she went on.
The rest of the table, perceiving the drift of her badgering, broke
into a rumbling bass chuckle.
"Quite a ways," said Dan, and his wide brown eyes looked seriously
back at her.
A yell of delight came from the men at this naive rejoinder. Dan
looked about him with a sort of childish wonder. Calder's anxious
whisper came at his side: "Don't let them get you mad, Dan!"
Jacqueline, having scored so heavily with her first shot, was by no
means willing to give up her sport.
"With them big eyes, for a starter," she said, "all you need is long
hair to be perfect. Do your folks generally let you run around like
this?"
Every man canted his ear to get the answer and already they were
grinning expectantly.
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