"If he told you that
I was all right and asked you to give me a job, would you do it?"
The proprietor laughed impatiently. "What's the good of talking
nonsense?" he demanded. "Yes, I would, if that'll satisfy you. But you'd
better take the next train for Chicago. And if ..." He hesitated,
stroked his mustache again with his under-lip, and went on,--"Oh, I
suppose I'm a damned fool, but if a couple of dollars will help you
out ..."
"No, thank you," said Rose. "I'm going to see the judge." And she cut
off John Culver's exclamation of protest by walking out of the office.
Rose went back to the desk, told the clerk she wanted dinner, and
forestalled the objection she saw him preparing to make, by laying a
dollar bill on the counter. He even hesitated a little over that, but
he took it and gave her a quarter in change.
"That'll be all right," he said, and she went the way the judge had
gone, down the corridor to the dining-room. A glance showed her where he
sat, and without waiting for the assistance of the head waitress, she
chose a chair near the door, facing it, and with her back to the judge.
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