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“Ahundredamonth！“saidtheenthusiast。Andbusycalculationsbegantoariseamongthem。
“Itwenttofiftypercent，“pursuedtheVirginian，“whenNewYorkandPhiladelphiagottobiddin’agaynsteachother。Bothcitieshadsignsallover’emclaimingtofurnishtheTularefrawg。Andbothhad’emallright。Andsameascattletrains，yu’dseefrawgtrainstearingacrosstArizona——bigglasstankswithwireover’em——throughtoNewYork，an’thefrawgsstarin’
out。“
“Why，George，“whisperedawoman’svoicebehindme，“he’smerelydeceivingthem！He’smerelymakingthatstuffupoutofhishead。“
“Yes，mydear，that’smerelywhathe’sdoing。“
“Well，Idon’tseewhyyouimaginedIshouldcareforthis。I
thinkI’llgoback。“
“Betterseeitout，Daisy。Thisbeatsthegeysersoranythingwe’relikelytofindintheYellowstone。“
“ThenIwishwehadgonetoBarHarborasusual，“saidthelady，andshereturnedtoherPullman。
Butherhusbandstayed。Indeed，themalecrowdnowwasagoodlysighttosee，howthemenedgedclose，drawnbyacommontie。
Theirdifferentkindsoffeettoldthestrengthofthebond——yellowsleeping-carslippersplantedmiscellaneousandmotionlessnearapairofMexicanspurs。AlleyeswatchedtheVirginianandgavehimtheirentiresympathy。Thoughtheycouldnotknowhismotiveforit，whathewasdoinghadfallenaslightuponthem——allexcepttheexcitedcalculators。ThesewereloudlymakingtheirfortunesatbothRawhideandTulare，druggedbytheirsatanicallyarousedhopesofgold，heedlessoftheslippersandthespurs。Hadamangivenanysigntowarnthem，Ithinkhewouldhavebeenlynched。EventheIndianchiefshadcometoseeintheirshowwarbonnetsandblankets。Theynaturallyunderstoodnothingofit，yetmagneticallyknewthattheVirginianwasthegreatman。Andtheywatchedhimwithapproval。Hesatbythefirewiththefrying-pan，lookinghisdailyself——engagingandsaturnine。AndnowasTrampasdeclaredticketstoCaliforniawouldbedearandRawhidehadbettercomefirst，theSouthernerletloosehisheaven-bornimagination。
“There’sabetterreasonforRawhidethantickets，Trampas，“saidhe。“IsaiditwastoolateforTulare。“
“Iheardyou，“saidTrampas。“Opinionsmaydiffer。YouandI
don’tthinkalikeonseveralpoints。
“Gawd，Trampas！“saidtheVirginian，“d’yu’reckonI’dberottinghyehonfortydollarsifTularewaslikeitusedtobe？
Tulareisbroke。“
“Whatbrokeit？Yourleaving？“
“Revengebrokeit，anddisease，“saidtheVirginian，strikingthefrying-panonhisknee，forthefrogswereallgone。Atthoseluridwordstheiruntamedchildmindstookfire，andtheydrewroundhimagaintohearataleofblood。Thecrowdseemedtoleannearer。
Butforashortmomentitthreatenedtobespoiled。Apassengercamealong，demandinginanimportantvoice，“Wherearethesefrogs？“HewasaprominentNewYorkafter-dinnerspeaker，theywhisperedme，andoutforaholidayinhisprivatecar。ReachingusandwalkingtotheVirginian，hesaidcheerily，“Howmuchdoyouwantforyourfrogs，myfriend？“
“Yougotafriendhyeh？“saidtheVirginian。“That’sgood，foryu’needcaretakenofyu’。“Andtheprominentafter-dinnerspeakerdidnotfurtherdiscommodeus。
“That’sworthmytrip，“whisperedaNewYorkpassengertome。
“Yes，itwasacaseofrevenge，“resumedtheVirginian，“anddisease。TherewasamannamedSayntAugustinegotrunoutofDomingo，whichisaDagoisland。HecometoPhiladelphia，an’hewasdeadbroke。ButSayntAugustinewasaliveman，an’hesawPhiladelphiawasfullo’Quakersthatdressedplainan’eathumdrum。Sohestartedcookin’Domingowayfor’em，an’theycaughtrightahold。Terrapin，hegave’em，an’croakeets，an’
he’dusefortychickenstomakeabrothhecalledconsommay。An’
hegotrich，andPhiladelphiagotwellknown，an’Delmonic
