"Certainly," said Dan Anderson. "I know I'm extravagant. I don't need a place as good as this, but I always was sort of sensuous, you know." Ellsworth looked at him without any comprehension, from him to the bed with blankets, and the bare table. "Come in," said Dan Anderson, "and sit down. Better sit on the chair, I reckon. One leg of the bed is sort of dicky." "So this is the way you live?" repeated Ellsworth to Dan Anderson, who was now on his hands and knees and searching under the bed. "Now, about my daughter--is there any hotel--are there any women?" "Three, from Kansas," said Dan Anderson. "That is, three real ones. All the female earth, Mr. Ellsworth, comes from Kansas, same as all the baled hay. Oh, yes, here she is!" He had been speaking with his voice somewhat muffled under the bed, but now emerged, bearing a dusty bottle in his hand. Mr. Ellsworth looked at him a bit keenly; for, after all, he was not a bad judge of men. "How long has that bottle been there?" asked he, abruptly. "Oh, a couple of years, maybe." "And you've never opened it?" "No, why should I? You hadn't come yet. Of course, I knew you'd be along some day. I kept it to drink to your very good health, Mr. Ellsworth--the health of the man who told me not to come around his house--told me I was an unsettled ne'er-do-well, and not suitable company for his--why, I don't think I have any corkscrew at all." His voice was slow, but harder now in quality. Ellsworth sat on the chair, the bottle in his hand hanging between his knees. He looked at Dan Anderson steadily. "You've got me guessing in a good many ways," he said; "I don't know why you came here--" "No?" "Nor how you live, nor what encouragement or prospects you find here. For instance, about how much did you make last year in your business?" "My law practice? Oh, you mean down at the county-seat? There is no law court here. How much did the boys pay me?" "Yes." "Two hundred and sixty-eight dollars and seventy-five cents." "What?" "Oh, I know it's a heap of money; but I made it." "Enough for tobacco money!" "Sir," said Dan Anderson, "more. I ate frequent. Why, sir, did you ever stop to think that our total circulating medium here is only three hundred dollars? I had almost all of it one time or another. Now, not doubting your intentions in the least, did you ever come that near to corralling the whole visible supply of cash in your own town? Moreover, I am attorney for the men who own the coal-mines. I'm the lawyer for both the gold mills. We've got one or two mines here, and I'm in. Besides, I've just got the law business from Pitzer Chisum, down on the Seven Rivers, He's got maybe a hundred thousand head of cattle. Now, I'm going to rob Pitzer, because he needs it. He's got money scandalous."