"I came here to find out what happened to her." "Now you make up your mind to it." "You'll tell me about that lady." "Man with investigative ability," ""tact, perseverance and proven physical courage" ""for possible hazardous mission." ""Must be man of taste and discernment," ""a West Point graduate and a former Army officer." ""Communicate Colonel H.P. Lathrop," "River Acres, Sacramento, California."" "Come in, sir." "Thank you." "Your name, sir?" "My name is Paladin." "What's yours?" "Tuolumne." "Tuolumne O'Toole." "Tuolumne?" "You think it's a funny name?" "No." "I think it's a charming name." "It's Cherokee, isn't it?" "On my mother's side." "My father was a railroad worker from Ireland." "Oh?" "If you'll step into the drawing room," "I'll tell the colonel you're here, sir." "Thank you." "Ah, Mr. Paladin." "Colonel Lathrop, happy to see you." "Nice to see you." "I see you're harboring my old friend" "Petronius Arbiter here." "Yes." "Yes, the old scoundrel painted quite a picture of his time, didn't he?" "Naturally, I've forbidden my wife to read a line of his." "Oh?" "Sit down, won't you?" "Thank you." "Yes, I've been many years recuperating since the war." "Books have been my refuge." "Your pursuits have been far more interesting." "Colonel, you seem to know a great deal about me." "Well, only by hearsay." "That's why I was forced to use a blind advertisement in order to reach you." "And now that I'm here, what can I do for you?" "Oh, Martha, my dear, do you have a moment?" "I'd like you to meet Mr. Paladin." "Mrs. Lathrop." "How do you do, Mr. Paladin?" "Mrs. Lathrop." "Would you excuse me, please?" "Little Pablo is very ill, and I must hurry." "Excuse me." "The eternal nurse." "My wife's always ministering to the sick, or the lame, or the lazy." "Colonel, what is it you wish of me?" "I noticed that you were admiring that portrait, sir." "Oh, was I?" "That's Jonathan Lathrop." "He was an aide-de-camp of General George Washington's." "Well, the military seems to run in your family." "Yes." "All the mares of my family have been in the military, or lawmakers, or leaders in other fields." "If pride of family be a sin, then I plead guilty, sir." "I am proud of my ancestors." "Well, I'm certain you have every reason to be proud, Colonel." "Now, as to your business with me?" "Well, why don't we let that wait until after you've refreshed yourself." "Your bag's in your room." "There's a hot bath waiting." "And we dine at 8:00." "Tuolumne, will you show Mister" "Paladin to his room?" "Thank you." "Sugar, Mr. Paladin?" "No, thank you." "As my wife mentioned, Mr. Paladin," "I've spoken of you often, but I'm not sure that she'll approve my reasons for asking you here." "Colonel, why am I here?" "I want you to locate a woman for me, Mr. Paladin." "Thank you." "Her name is Gloria Morgan." "Do you know anything about her?" "I've heard the name." "Then you've also heard of Lodestar, Nevada." "Yes." "It's just a sleepy little cattle town now, my dear, but during the silver boom, it was a roaring mining camp." "Was it?" "Gloria Morgan was reigning queen of the Tenderloin District there, till the boom burst, and then she disappeared." "And your interest in her, Colonel?" "Well, she's a missing chapter in a history that I'm writing about the West." "My heavens, was she that important, my dear?" "Women of that sort were an essential part of Western history." "Isn't that so, Mr. Paladin?" "Well, I suppose every boom town had its Gloria Morgan as a sort of symbol of its success." "No, as I understand it, she was a great deal more than that." "Gloria Morgan was the high priestess of a cult made drunk by wine and sudden wealth." "She was beautiful and mysterious, exotic, exciting, sort of a living flame." "She..." "Must sound foolish to you." "I seem to have been carried away with a vision of some woman that I've never even seen." "And that," "Mr. Paladin, is why you are here." "Will you excuse us, my dear?" "Certainly." "Colonel, these clippings are very interesting." "A pity there's no picture." "Yes, isn't it?" "I'll pay your fee upon delivery of the information." "Until I know what's involved," "I can't name a fee." "Well, I know that a gun battle was fought for her favors." "I want to know more about that." "I want to know if she's still alive." "If so, what she's called." "And especially, I want to know where she is now." "Colonel, why don't you do this yourself?" "I regret that I'm not physically able to, sir." "My advertisement mentioned a hazard." "You're the second man that I've sent up there." "The first one never returned." "In that case, my fee will be $2,000." "Well..." "Tuolumne O'Toole." "This is indeed a pleasure." "I didn't come here to give you pleasure." "No?" "I came here to warn you." "Don't go to Lodestar." "Oh, why not?" "The country is full of bandits and wild Indians and grizzly bears." "How about cougars?" "Them, too, yes." "You're beautiful, Tuolumne, and you're such a bad liar." "I didn't think I could scare you." "Why did you try?" "That man isn't what he seems to be." "He likes to hurt people." "He's a... a monster and a torturer." "The Colonel?" "Well, you noticed that he didn't mention the name of Gloria Morgan till his wife was there to hear him, didn't you?" "Yes, I noticed." "The colonel's been using that name to torture Mrs. Lathrop." "Now, why would the colonel want to do that?" "I think Gloria Morgan was his sweetheart." "I think he wants to bring her here." "The colonel says he never laid eyes on her." "I'm sure he lies." "Well, that's hardly my business." "I'm being paid to locate Gloria Morgan." "If you do, if you come back here," "I'll kill you." "Now, you better believe me." "Well, I believe you'd try." "Oh!" "Good night, Tuolumne." "Yes, sir." "A room, please?" "Well, uh, that's something we got plenty of around here, mister." "You're staying with us long, uh, Mr. Paladin?" "Well, not too long, I hope." "I'm trying to locate an old friend of mine." "Can I help you?" "I know most everybody hereabouts." "Well, it's possible." "This is a woman of some repute." "Gloria Morgan." "Gl..." "You made a mistake, Carl." "You don't have an empty room." "Steve's right." "I forgot." "There's a bunch of mining men coming down from San Francisco." "They got everything booked." "That's the way it is, mister." "I'm partial to combinations of three." "I'll take Room 33." "Where is it?" "It's at the top of the stairs, sir." "Thanks." "Tell Clay." "Right." "Bartender, I'd like a bottle of..." "I'm out of it." "Well, I haven't named it yet." "Whatever it is you want, we ain't got it here." "Oh?" "She must've been quite a lady." "What lady?" "Did I say lady?" "Yeah." "Well, that was a slip of the tongue." "I'm not sure she was a lady, judging by the things I hear about her." "Well, mister, nobody ain't ever going to hear of you, if you don't clear out." "Do you mind?" "Not at all." "I wonder if you'd mind sharing this with me." "Why, I've often wondered what whiskey tastes like." "You ain't going to get any information out of me, mister." "But I can tell you this:" "She was a first-class can of tomatoes." "Was she, now." "Of course, good looks and in... in mobility- she couldn't hold a candle to me." "You don't say." "Oh, I do." "Why, I could out-drink her any day of the week." "And when it came to trapping a loose dollar," "I could take..." "I wonder whatever happened to her." "Clay could tell you." "He's the fella that owns this place, but he won't." "I bet Lulu knows." "Lulu?" "Her best buddy." "They used to work here together." "Poor Lulu." "She got fat." "All she's good for now is taking in laundry." "Mazie..." "You better go home, Mazie." "Or tomorrow you could be taking in washing." "I'm sorry, Mr. Sommers." "Get out." "Don't be too hard on her, Mr. Sommers." "It was all my fault." "You get out, too." "Gladly." "Out of town!" "After we've had a talk." "Harry!" "In your office, Mr. Sommers." "Harry!" "Now can we have that talk, Mr. Sommers?" "Not now or ever." "How are you, ma'am?" "How's yourself?" "I'm fine." "My spare shirt shows the trail;" "I was told Lulu would clean it." "Lulu will." "That'll be a dollar, in advance." "You know, I have a great deal of admiration for women of your profession." "Laundress?" "!" "Yeah" " I find women of your profession all over the West." "Independent, honest." "You find a bucket, some water, and soap, and you're in business." "Well, what's a girl to do when she isn't a girl no more?" "The figure goes but the shoulders stay." "It's an honorable profession, and certainly a necessary one." "I can think of some others we could do without." "Don't credit me too much, dearie." "I've done my time in the saloons." "You?" "!" "Well, I didn't always look like this, you know." "Wait a minute, Lulu." "I think you look fine." "Did you work the saloons here in Lodestar?" "You bet." "Well, then, you must've known, um... what's-her-name- the one they all talked about, um..." "Gloria?" "That's it- Gloria Morgan." "Say, she really gathered in the honey around here." "Or so they tell it on the trail." "Oh, they do, huh?" "Mm-hmm." "A saint, mister- right out of the Book." "That's Gloria Morgan." "Well, now that I didn't hear." "Well, I'll bet." "Did the boys tell you about that black winter we had when everybody around here was dying like flies and..." "Now, why did you start talking about Gloria Morgan?" "I didn't." "You did." "Did I?" "Mm-hmm." "I don't do that often these days." "Well, that looks fine." "I don't think the creases will ever come..." "Freeze, Paladin!" "I should've known." "We'll get rid of him, Lulu." "It seems to me you people are going to a lot of trouble just to keep me from asking a few innocent questions." "Come on." "Hey, mister!" "Your shirt!" "Next time somebody puts a bullet through it, I hope you're wearing it." "Ride, Paladin." "Keep going." "Don't come back." "I'd like my gun." "We'll keep that." "I'll have to come back for it, if for nothing else." "You do, and I promise you'll be shot." "Head on, from the side, in the back, nobody's going to make a fair fight out of it." "We see you, we shoot." "Now get." "This is an excellent gun, Mr. Sommers." "I just couldn't leave it behind." "Oh, that's a beautiful woman." "You must've been very fond of Gloria Morgan." "How does she rate all this loyalty?" "Why will men here, and women, too, kill for her?" "I was told that Gloria Morgan was filth." "That she was an abomination who preyed on the weaknesses of lonely men..." "You're a liar." "That she was a liar, a cheat, a thief..." "You're lying!" "You're a liar!" "Am I?" "Then what is the truth, Mr. Sommers?" "I don't want to hurt her." "I don't." "Do you want me to tell people she was a saint?" "Nonsense." "Have you ever known a woman that was?" "No, I haven't." "Part saint, part devil, a great deal of turtledove and a whole lot of cat." "That's Gloria." "I understand a gun battle was fought for her favors." "Not for her favors, sir, for her hand, in marriage." "I beg your pardon." "I suppose... the other fellow had as much right to court her as I did, but..." "If you hadn't noticed, I walk with a limp." "It was a good fight and a fair fight, and when it was over, we were both near dead." "And Gloria Morgan?" "She waited until we'd both recovered our health then... told us she... didn't love either one of us and went away." "I believe Clay sent word I was coming." "Yeah, he did." "And you know what Clay wants you to do." "Clay and I have disagreed before." "He faced your gun at some time." "Got a couple of souvenirs in his carcass from it someplace." "You were the other man." "That's right." "Gloria Morgan." "She was one of the finest women I..." "I ever met." "You found out about that woman?" "I did." "Are you going to tell?" "I am." "Tuolumne, I don't think Gloria Morgan will hurt your mistress." "You better not be lying." "How do you do, Mr. Paladin?" "Colonel." "Come in." "Thank you." "Mrs. Lathrop, how's your patient?" "Oh, Pablo's very well, thank you." "Won't you sit down?" "Thank you." "Did you find Gloria Morgan?" "Colonel, I found out a great deal about her." "And where is she now?" "Well, sir, I think perhaps it's more important to know who she was, rather than where she is now." "I know who she was." "I doubt it." "I talked to a great many people." "Actually, Colonel," "Gloria Morgan was a young girl abandoned in a mining camp by a man who brought her there under false pretenses of marriage." "She had no friends, no one to turn to, so she did the best she could." "She sang and danced in the saloons." "And she shared in the money men paid for the pleasure of drinking in her company." "Is this distressing you, my dear?" "No, no." "Go on, Mr. Paladin." "Some of the people I talked to, Colonel, think she was as saint." "A saint?" "!" "Yes, sir." "There was a cholera epidemic in Lodestar." "No doctors, no nurses." "Gloria Morgan nursed the sick." "Nursed them, bathed them and fed them." "Well, sir?" "I'm trying to crystallize in my mind the impression" "I've gotten of Gloria Morgan in the last few days." "And that impression is?" "That she was a remarkable woman, whose friendship I would've considered a high honor." "Shall I go on, Colonel?" "Yes." "Go on, Mr. Paladin." "Well, Gloria Morgan saved enough money to go to San Francisco and study nursing." "Naturally, she was worried that her past would come up, and spoil her new life." "So she borrowed a name." "She borrowed it from the privately printed family history of a friend." "And under that name, she met, fell in love with, and married a man." "And, for a while, they were quite happy." "And then, Mr. Paladin?" "And then, recently, someone sent her husband a poison pen letter, exposing her past in the worst possible light." "Out of hurt and arrogant pride, he decided to punish her, by getting a third party to confront her with proof of her identity in his presence." "That's quite enough, sir." "The scheme was unworthy of the man, Colonel." "If he'd gone to his wife in any reasonable manner, she would've told him anything he wanted to know." "Oh, I'm sure she would've." "Mr. Paladin, my husband paid you to make a report." "Why don't you make it?" "Oh, that's right." "You want to know the present whereabouts of Gloria Morgan, don't you, Colonel?" "No, I don't." "Well, it's just as well- the Gloria Morgan of boom town days is dead." "She lives only in the memory of those who loved her." "You believe that, Colonel?" "Yes, I believe it." "Mr. Paladin?" "I promise I'll never try to kill you again, as long as I live." "And don't you ever try to lie to me again, either." "Now, what did Mrs. Lathrop ever do to deserve such loyalty from you?" "Oh, I was born in Lodestar." "When I was 14, I took a job in the saloon where Gloria Morgan was working." "And?" "She took me to her home and spanked me so hard" "I couldn't sit down for a week." "And now I suppose there's a young man." "Little Pablo's big brother." "But you're the only man who's ever kissed me." "Oh, Tuolumne, I'm terribly sorry." "That first kiss belonged to little Pablo's big brother." "He won't mind." "As long as I save the third one for him." "The third one?"