Buchanan Says No Read Online Free Page B

Mike."
    “ What's in there?" Sandoe asked in surprise, looking
    f rom the sign of the barber's shop to Buchanan's face.
    "The drinks are down at the Happy Times."
    "Be sure you leave some ,” Buchanan said, entering the shop.
    Sandoe continued on south, eagerly.
    "You're next, mister ,” the barber said ? eying the big ma n doubtfully.
    Buchanan laughed and sat down on the stool
    "You're about to earn your two bits now, brother ,” he told him. "I want the full treatment."'
    That consisted of a haircut, a shave, and hot bricks wrapped in tent cloth and held to the face with tongs. Then he followed the barber out through the back of the shop, where a converted horse trough was filled with boil ing water and a generous helping of borax. Buchanan bent over, hands on knees, and the barber submerged his head in the mixture and held it there. That untangled the knots in his hair sufficiently to allow a wide-toothed iron comb to be pulled through it. Bay rum and a slapdash brushing completed the operation and Buchanan tipped him a dime.
    At the haberdasher's next door he chose a pair of denim work pants, a shirt of softer cotton, a new hat, and other essentials. He wore the hat away from the place and carried the rest under his arm in a paper wrapper as he went in search of a bed for the night. This he found on a side street, in a place that called itself the Green Lantern and advertised room and board.
    His landlady rented him a room in the rear, which included a towel, showed him where the bath t ub was, and collected in advance for one night's lodging and three meals tomorrow. When she was gone, Buchanan stretched himself full length along the bed, and though a good four inches of him lapped over, a great smile of contentment spread slowly across his face.
    Man, there would be some great exhibition of sleeping in here tonight. . . .
    He go t up again, reluctantly, and took the towel down th e corridor to the bathroom. But now the door was clos ed and he waited. Five minutes passed and he was s ti ll w a i ting. He tested the door handle on the chance that t he door had been blown sh ut. It was locked. He squatted a n d put his eye to the keyhole, and was frozen in that imperious position when the door was thrown open. He l oo ked downward and saw slippered feet, slim ankles, and th e hem of a flowered wrapper. He raised his eyes the leng th of the loose-fitting gown to a neck that extended abov e it and the chin, mouth, nose, and flowing red hair at a y oung girl. She had eyes, of course, but there was an exp r e ssion in them now that made Buchanan wish the earth would open up and swallow him whole.
    "I thought this was a house for men only," he said
    lamely , rising slowly to a standing position. She looked very small and fragile to him now, and deadly as a coral s na ke.
    "Up until now it was for gentlemen only," she said, and step ped around him, holding her arms close and her should ers bunched, as though even to brush against the man meant contamination,
    Buchanan watched her go down the hall, watched the danc ing lights in her unpinned hair, the completely femi nize rhythm of her stride. She suddenly stopped and whirled on him, hands angrily on hips.
    "Well?" she demanded,
    "Well . . ." Buchanan answered feebly, then tried to gri n his way out of it. "Well, fine," he said heartily. "Just f i ne."
    It hadn't worked. He knew from the way she turned and resumed walking again that it had been a complete rout. The hot tub, however, cramped as it was, closed his - wo unds and restored his deflated confidence. The recon st ruction was completed back in his room, where he sur veyed the new haircut, the new face, the new duds, and pronounced himself a crop-eared dude if ever there was o ne . He buckled the gunbelt at his waist, gave the holster a fashionable hike, and sallied forth to sample the perils and pleasures of the great city.
    The best place was the nearest place in Buchanan's book of life, and the nearest saloon to the