Piute Tompkins, sole owner and proprietor of what used to be the Oasis Saloon but was now the Two Palms House, let the front feet of his chair fall with a bang to the porch floor and deftly shot a stream of tobacco juice at an unfortunate lizard basking in the sunny sand of Main Street.
'That there Chinee, ’ he observed, with added profanity, 'sure has got this here town flabbergasted!’
'Even so, ’ agreed Deadoak Stevens, who was wont to agree with everyone. Deadoak was breaking the monotony of an aimless existence by roosting on the hotel veranda. 'I wisht, ’ he added wistfully, 'I wisht that I could control myself as good as you, Piute! The way you pick off them lizards is a caution.’