among strangers, though they were as hospitable as strangers could be.
The hotel was a lively place that night. There was some musical talent
among Duff's men, and Duff himself was an artist on the piano. Many of
the young people of the town had dropped in that evening, as some one
had passed the word that there might be an impromptu entertainment at
the hotel. There was. Duff played and the boys sang. Jimmy was himself
again and added his rich baritone. The town itself was not without
musical talent, and altogether it was a restful change for us.

Perhaps we should have felt even better if we had been dressed
differently, for we wore much the same clothes as those in which we
did our work on the river--a woollen shirt and overalls. Besides,
neither Emery nor I had shaved since starting, and it is quite likely
that we looked just a little uncouth. Appearances count for little
with these people in the little-settled districts, and it is a common
enough sight to them to see men dressed as we were. They did
everything they could to make us feel at ease. As one person remarked,
"The wealthiest cattle man, or the owner of the richest mine in the
country, usually looks worse than all others after a month on the
range or in the hills."

If wealth were indicated on an inverse ratio to one's good appearance,
we should have been very wealthy indeed. We felt as if it would take
us a week to get rested and lost little time in getting to bed when
the party broke up. We imagine most of the residents of Vernal were
Mormons. It is part of their creed to give "the stranger within their
gates" a cordial welcome. This however, was accorded to us, not only
among the Mormons, but in every section of our journey on the Green
and Colorado rivers.