There was the flash of a red shirt vanishing in an adjacent doorway; the fading apparition of a pair of high boots and blue overalls in another; the abrupt withdrawal of a curly blond head from a sashless window over the way.

Even the saloon was deserted, although a back door in the dim recess seemed to creak mysteriously.

The stage-coach, with the other passengers, had already rattled away.
"I certainly think Fairfax understood that I--" began Mr.Carr.
He was interrupted by the pressure of Christie's fingers on his arm and a subdued exclamation from Jessie, who was staring down the street.
"What are they ?" she whispered in her sister's ear.

"Nigger minstrels, a circus, or what ?" The five millionaires of Devil's Ford had just turned the corner of the straggling street, and were approaching in single file.

One glance was sufficient to show that they had already availed themselves of the new clothing bought by Fairfax, had washed, and one or two had shaved.