Page:The woman in battle .djvu/649

Rh Central Hotel of New York, or the Hotel de Louvre of Paris, and must expect to rough it. Still, even on the frontier, soap and water are cheap, and people who profess to keep hotels, and who take the money of the public, ought to make some effort to have things reasonably neat and tidy.

The dining-room was like the rest of the building, of the roughest possible construction. The table was covered with a dark colored oil-cloth, full of grease and dirt, and the supper, although it was such as a hungry traveller could have relished had it been properly prepared, was so uninviting in appearance that I could eat but little of it.

Being much fatigued, so soon as I had swallowed a few mouthfuls I sought my room, but, on arriving there, found, to my utter astonishment, that the woman who had come with me in the stage was occupying the bed. When I remonstrated, I was told that it was impossible for me to have a room to myself, and speedily found that I either had to submit or else pass the night in the parlor among the roughs congregated there. The- alternative of sharing the bed with my fellow-traveller was preferable, for there at least I should be safe, as the room was over the landlord's private apartments, while the parlor being over the bar-room, was liable to have a bullet coming through the floor before morning. I accordingly submitted to circumstances, but did not obtain much satisfaction from my couch, for, independently of its unpleasant human occupant, it was fairly alive with vermin. My companion, however, snored away in happy unconsciousness of any such disturbances, being stupefied with whiskey, and overcome by the fatigues of travel. She was evidently accustomed to this sort of thing, and was not disposed to be fastidious.

The next morning she was called to go in the stage. I having determined to remain for a day or two, was therefore to part company with her. She got up, and I was surprised to see that she had been in bed all night without removing any of her clothing. From under her pillow she took a belt containing a formidable-looking knife and a six-shooter, which she buckled around her waist, and as she did so, seeing that I was awake, asked, in a sarcastic sort of way, "How did you sleep?"

"Not much," I replied. "This kind of a bed don't suit me."

"Well, I've slept too d—d much," she said. "I am tired