That night we were given a big banquet to which my soldier chums and their wives were invited.

My wife had a glorious time.

After it was all over, she put her arms about my neck and cried: "Willy, I don't believe you are an outlaw at all!" I had reluctantly promised my wife that I would abandon the Plains.

It was necessary to make a living, so I rented a hotel in Salt Creek Valley, the same hotel my mother had formerly conducted, and set up as a landlord.
It was a typical frontier hotel, patronized by people going to and from the Plains, and it took considerable tact and diplomacy to conduct it successfully.

I called the place "The Golden-Rule House," and tried to conduct it on that principle.