Sitting at a bar one evening were a small line of miners known to frequent the more 'comfortable' part of the saloon. Some at all hours of the day and night, and that forces one to wonder how many of them will keep their jobs. What one of them was doing in late morning by the ladies' quarter is anyone's guess, but goodness-knows he were there, and with the 'girls' asleep, there's good reason to think all the men'd have to do is snoop.
"You gotta hear what I heard," Abel says to Caine. "Seems that Chinaman's come into the saloon all sneaky-like since it were built. I'd heard rumors, but this time I seen it with my own eyes."
"That's old news," Caine tells Abel. "Doctor Kei's been treatin' th'girls fer a long time. Keepin' things clean, so-t'speak. So what if'n he come through the back door t'do it, all th'more power to him, I say, if'n th'girls ain't dirty. If'n y'd talk t'th'man, you'd find that out easy!"
"Oh? An' I suppose he also stays in Miss Gem's room t'do it...?" Abel waggles an eyebrow at Caine.
"Quit yer woolin'!" comes a chorus of miners. "I'm dead serious!" Abel thumps his fist on the table. "I saw him go in her room, an' then I heard 'em fightin' -- yellin' about somethn' er'another. Now, y'all say he's been in the saloon with th'girls, fine, but I'm wonderin' why he's bellyachin' at Miss Gem when she's supposed t'be sleepin'. 'Sides, I ain't never heard Miss Gem shout at anyone like she did him, an' come t'think of it, him neither. Yellin', I mean."
"Maybe they was arguin' fees," Caine grumps. "I dunno. What's yer point, Abel! Git t'yer story!"
"I don't think they was arguin' fees, from what I were hearin'." Abel looks sly. "An' all I know is...pretty soon...they stopped arguin'. An' I didn't see that Chinaman come out."
The whole line of miners looks down the bar at Abel. There is a pause. "Fer how long?" one asks though the somewhat halted silence.
Abel shrugs. "I dunno. I were on those stairs fer a good hour...an' I didn't see th' Chinaman walk back out."
All the men go back to their drinks. There are just some things you don't want to think about, let alone discuss.
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