They entered the lobby of the hotel, one carrying his saddle bags, the other his valise, and registered in the book that the sleepy clerk shoved toward them.

Several loungers still sat in cane-bottomed chairs along the wall, and they cast curious glances at Harry and the colonel.
The hotel was crowded, the clerk said.

People had been crowding into town in the last few days, as there was a great stir in the country owing to the news from Charleston.

He could give them only one room, but it had two beds.
"It will do," said the colonel, in his soft but positive voice.

"My young friend and I have been traveling hard and we need rest." Harry would have preferred a room alone, but his trust in Colonel Talbot had already become absolute.