Tom saluted the strangers briefly, and leaned his rifle against the wagon wheel.

Dan Anderson made known the names of the visitors, and Tom immediately put in action his own notions of hospitality.

Stepping to the wagon side he fished out a kerosene can, stoppered with a potato stuck on the spout.

He removed the potato, picked up a tin cup, and proceeded calmly to pour out a generous portion.
"I always carry my liquor this way, gentlemen," said he, "because it's convenient to pour in the dark, and ain't so apt to get spilled.

This here liquor sometimes makes folks forget their geogerphy.