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 He spread himself out in the chair, and Noggle stood by as if he teetered on indecision.

"All right," he yielded at last, "all right. But it hurts a man's business—"

"Damn your fool business, sir!" said Texas, lifting his head savagely.

Noggle shrank back from him, pressing his hand to his mouth as if he had bitten his tongue. Over in the corner, where she stood looking at the cigarette cards tacked to the wall, Fannie laughed.

Noggle began to snip round the edges of Hartwell's long hair with his shears, pausing now and then to tap them on the back of the comb, for no apparent reason in the barbering world. Noggle could not be expected to hold silence very long, not even while clipping an undesirable customer, especially when he was itching all over inside with big news. But it was along toward the end of the hairtrimming that he melted enough to begin.

"Cowboy in here from the Diamond Tail this morning said the Texas fever's broke out over there," said he.

"That so?"

Texas spoke as if the news was of little concern to him, but Fannie turned with a sharp exclamation, looking at Noggle with big eyes.

"Lost twenty-odd two days ago," he said, "and spreadin' like fire."