Harding smiled and blushed, and then said: "Because I had a dream last night."
All wanted to hear what it was.
"You won't laugh, Carlin?" said Harding.
Carlin said he would not.
"And you will not call me a fool, Wright?" Harding asked.
Wright promised to conceal his sentiments, if necessary.
"You will not call it a mirage, Corrigan?" asked Harding.
Corrigan agreed to refrain.
"And, Colonel, you will not ask mysterious questions about who usually sits as a commission of lunacy in Virginia City?" Harding inquired.
The Colonel agreed to restrain himself.