There were women present too,--coarse and vicious creatures who lacked
even the sort of tawdry finery that their sisters in western mining
camps affect. There was here no shimmer of even the slaziest satin.
In dress as in character they were drab.
So was the stage set when the door opened and Alexander stepped in,
dropping her pack to the floor and standing speechless for a moment or
two as her amazed eyes took in the composition of the picture.
Alexander had never seen such a spectacle before, and as she looked
about for someone who appeared to have authority here, her fine eyes
and lips fell into an unmasked scorn.
She had not closed the door and through it, close on her heels, slipped
Brent. For, a little space the confusion took no account of her coming
but the city man was standing directly behind her and he saw the
pliancy of her attitude stiffen and then across her shoulder he
recognized in a rear door the tense figure of Bud Sellers.
Sellers stood looking through a lane which chance had left open and
Brent thought that his posture was the electrically expectant one of a
man poised for instant action.
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