"Yes, I'll wake you."
"No, don't yu', for God's sake!"
"Not?"
"Don't yu' touch me."
"What'll I do?"
"Roll away quick to your side. It don't last but a minute." The Virginian spoke with a reassuring drawl.
Upon this there fell a brief silence, and I heard the drummer clear his throat once or twice.
"It's merely the nightmare, I suppose?" he said after a throat clearing.
"Lord, yes. That's all. And don't happen twice a year. Was you thinkin' it was fits?"
"Oh, no! I just wanted to know. I've been told before that it was not safe for a person to be waked suddenly that way out of a nightmare."
"Yes, I have heard that too. But it never harms me any. I didn't want you to run risks."
"Me?"
"Oh, it'll be all right now that yu' know how it is." The Virginian's drawl was full of assurance.
There was a second pause, after which the drummer said:
"Tell me again how it is."
The Virginian answered very drowsily: "Oh, just don't let your arm or your laig touch me if I go to jumpin' around. I'm dreamin' of Indians when I do that. And if anything touches me then, I'm liable to grab my knife right in my sleep."
"Oh, I understand," said the drummer, clearing his throat. "Yes."
Steve was whispering delighted oaths to him-
