At the end of this he came to a frowzy bedroom, the door of which stood ajar.Seated at a deal table, and working by a dim lamp with a broken chimney, a close-cropped, red-bearded, red-haired man in his shirt-sleeves was jabbing gloomily at a column of figures scrawled in a dirty ledger.He looked up as Joe appeared in the doorway, and his eyes showed a slight surprise.
"I never thought ye had the temper to git somebody to split yer head," said he."Where'd ye collect it?""Nowhere," Joe answered, dropping weakly on the bed."It doesn't amount to anything.""Well, I'll take just a look fer myself," said the red-bearded man, rising."And I've no objection to not knowin' how ye come by it.Ye've always been the great one fer keepin' yer mysteries to yerself."He unwound the handkerchief and removed it from Joe's head gently."WHEE!" he cried, as a long gash was exposed over the forehead."Ihope ye left a mark somewhere to pay a little on the score o' this!"Joe chuckled and dropped dizzily back upon the pillow."There was another who got something like it," he gasped, feebly; "and, oh, Mike, I wish you could have heard him going on! Perhaps you did--it was only three miles from here.""Nothing I'd liked better!" said the other, bringing a basin of clear water from a stand in the corner."It's a beautiful thing to hear a man holler when he gits a grand one like ye're wearing to-night."He bathed the wound gently, and hurrying from the room, returned immediately with a small jug of vinegar.Wetting a rag with this tender fluid, he applied it to Joe's head, speaking soothingly the while.