"Don't let on to her," he managed to gasp out to his rescuers, wishing
to spare Miss Musgrave's nerves a shock.
But she saw the men bearing him to his hut, joined them, and insisted on
being installed as sole nurse forthwith.
Twenty other men would willingly have broken an arm for such a reward;
and the recklessness displayed during the next few days was something
awful. But she saw that too,--little escaped those big blue eyes,--and,
ascribing it to drink, gave a pretty strong lecture on the bibulous
habits of Big Stone Hole, at her next concert.
There was an earnest meeting in the American Bar that night, at which
the following motion was put and carried unanimously: "On and after this
date, any drunken man is liable to be shot at sight, unless his friends
can prove that he has dug over three carats of diamonds during the day."
And then, like other reformers, they went on to more sweeping measures:
"Only knife-fighting to take place in the camp. All disputes with
pistols, unless of a very pressing nature, to be settled out of earshot
of Dan's house." There were even some hints of appointing a closing-time
for the saloon--"it would make the place so much more like home.
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