"Mines?" he said, and then laughed bitterly. "If that was all I been doin'--" he began darkly--and then stopped. The waitress started. "Maybe this here is my last chance to get chuck for days an' days. Well, let it go. If I stayed here with you I'd be talkin' too much!" He turned slowly towards the door. His step was very slow indeed. "Wait a minute," called the maiden. "There ain't any call for that play. If you're in wrong somewhere--well, stranger, just take that chair and I'll have some ham-and in front of you inside of a minute." She had slammed through the door before Buck turned, and he sat down, smiling pleasantly to himself. Half of a mirror decorated the wall beside his table, and into this Buck peered. His black locks were sadly disarrayed, and he combed them into some semblance of order with his fingers. He had hardly finished this task when the door was kicked open with such force that it whacked against the wall, and the waitress appeared with an armful of steaming food. Before Buck's widening eyes she swiftly set forth an array of bread, butter in chunks, crisp French-fried potatoes, a large slab of ham on one plate and several fried eggs on another, and above all there was a mighty pewter cup of coffee blacker than the heart of night. Yearning seized upon Buck Daniels, but policy was stronger than hunger in his subtle mind. He rose again; he drew forth the chair opposite his own. "Ma'am," said Buck Daniels, "ain't you going to favor me by sittin' down?" The lady blinked her unfocused eyes. "Ain't I what?" she was finally able to ask. "I know," said Buck Daniels swiftly, "that you're terrible busy; which you ain't got time to waste on a stranger like me." She turned upon Buck those uncertain and wistful eyes. It was a generous face. Mouth, cheekbones, and jaw were of vast proportions, while the forehead, eyes, and nose were as remarkably diminutive. Her glance lowered to the floor; she shrugged her wide shoulders and began to wipe the vestiges of dishwater from her freckled hands. "You men are terrible foolish," she said. "There ain't no tellin' what you mean by what you say." And she sank slowly into the chair. It gave voice in sharp protest at her weight. Buck Daniels retreated to the opposite side of the table and took his place. "Ma'am," he began, "don't I look honest?" So saying, he slid half a dozen eggs and a section of bacon from the platter to his plate. "I dunno," said the maiden, with one eye upon him and the other plunging into the future. "There ain't no trusting men. Take 'em by the lot and they're awful forgetful." "If you knowed me better," said Buck sadly, disposing of a slab of bread spread thick with the pale butter and following this with a pile of fried potatoes astutely balanced on his knife. "If you knowed me better, ma'am, you wouldn't have no suspicions." "What might it be that you been doin'?" asked the girl. Buck Daniels paused in his attack on the food and stared at her.