Page:Hugh Pendexter--Kings of the Missouri.djvu/61

 "To Her! We shall see different pictures as we drink; yet it is the same little woman to be found in every land where love is."

They drank standing, the ceremony attracting the attention of those near by. As they were resuming their seats the door opened with a crash, and Malcom Phinny, followed by several men, entered. He flapped his arms and crowed a challenge. River men stirred uneasily, anxious to cut his comb. Old mountain men lazily opened their eyes, sniffed in contempt, and went back to their sleep.

Phinny undoubtedly would have been quickly accommodated with more trouble than he could carry had not Tilton rushed from behind the bar and greeted him effusively, thus branding him as a friend and one who was protected by the warning, "Hands off."

"Coming man in the A. F. C," a trader at the table next to Clair's informed his companion, a long-haired free trapper.

"To with the A. F. C," growled the trapper. "He'll be a goin' man if he does any more ki-yi-yiing round here."

Papa Clair reached forward and tapped him lightly on the shoulder and sweetly asked: