As they got near Pike's, he became more restless than ever.
"See here, Mister," he said at last, "my wife's here, I expect, and if she gets wind of this, I'll never get rid of her.

The only thing to do is to slip away without her knowing, and she might never hear of it.

I won't go into the place at all.

I'll go on and camp down the creek, and get the coach there after it leaves the town, and she'll never know." The town of "Pike's" consisted of a hotel, a store, a post-office, a private residence, and coach-stables; these were all combined in one establishment, so the town couldn't be said to be scattered.

Pike himself was landlord of the "pub," keeper of the store, officer in charge of the post-office, owner of the private residence, holder of the mail contract, and proprietor of the coach-stables.