HOTEL—

Artie and Donovan returned to the hotel just before suppertime. Artie had showed Donovan the museum, it didn't matter that they didn't go in. They just looked at it as they rode by. Donovan went to check out a couple of leads that, unfortunately, lead them nowhere but to a sore backside. Artie gratefully sank into a chair in the lobby. Both men decided they didn't need to wait upstairs for the men. Artie idly picked up a newspaper and began to leaf through it. Several pages into it, he sat up straight, his eyes wide.

"Don, look at this!" He said excitedly as he handed him the paper. Donovan quickly scanned it.

"Artemus this could really break this case wide open. How am I going to look into this without drawing suspicion?" He asked.

"Simple, we just won't be here when Jim gets back. Come on, let's go," Artie said as he rose and headed for the door.

"Clerk, when Mr. West gets back if we have not returned tell him to eat with out us," the clerk nodded to Artie and Donovan's quickly exiting backs.

Jim had the bellboy take the animal carcasses to have them prepared for the men to ship back home and he scanned the lobby for Artie and Donovan. Not finding them he took the men upstairs. He quickly changed his clothes and checked the room. It didn't appear Artie had been there all day. His frown increasing, he patiently waited for Matthews and Ketchum before going downstairs.

"Oh, Mr. West," the clerk called to him, "I have a message from Mr. Gordon. He said to tell you if he wasn't back by the time you got here that you gentlemen were to eat supper without them."

"Eat without them? Where did they go?"

"That I don't know. Mr. Gordon was reading the paper then all of a sudden he and Mr. Donovan ran out of here like they were on fire."

"Damnit, Artie," Jim muttered under his breath as he grabbed the paper and they headed into the restaurant.

An hour later the men sat around the table drinking coffee. Jim wasn't sure if he should be worried about his partner or angry with him. He flipped through, read and reread the paper numerous times and he could find nothing that might interest Artie enough to piss Jim off by missing a meal. He was brought back to reality when Matthews cleared his throat.

"Sorry, gentlemen, I'm a bit distracted," Jim replied.

"That's all right, Mr. West. I'm a bit worried about Donovan myself," Ketchum said watching the door.

"ARTIE," Jim bit off his reply, "and Donovan probably just got absorbed in staring at some art or something and lost track of the time. I'm sure they'll be along soon," Jim hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.

"Well, if you have no objections, Mr. West, I'd like to call it a night. I have a few letters to write before my hand becomes a nuisance, and it's been a rather long day," Matthews said.

"If Mr. Ketchum is agreeable that would be fine with me," Jim said resisting the urge to massage his aching back.

"Yes, I have some letters I need to write as well," Ketchum said, "What time do you think we will be meeting for breakfast?"

"I don't think it really matters. Tomorrow's agenda is a light one. I saw on your list that you wanted to attend a session of the State Legislature, while you're here so I thought we could do that tomorrow. Today's hunting was pretty tiring and I thought you could use a break."

"Why thank you, Mr. West, we'd appreciate that wouldn't we, Matthews?"

"Oh yes, that's a great idea. I'd love to get a closer look at how your government works." Matthews and Ketchum exchanged excited glances. Jim followed them up the stairs and waited until he heard their doors lock.

As he lowered himself onto the bed with a groan, he had even more questions and not one single answer. For starters, where were Artie and Donovan? They had finished their agenda for the day because they had been back at the hotel at some point. That worried Jim, it wasn't like Artie to just take off like that without leaving Jim some kind of note. And, Donovan, Jim really didn't know what to make of him. Artie seemed to think he was okay and that was good enough for him. He would just have to wait until Artie returned to find some answers. And he had better have eaten today or I'll skin him alive, Jim thought.

It was quite some time later when Jim heard Artie turning the key in the lock. Jim kept his hat pulled over his eyes, feigning sleep. He let Artie enter the room and he heard his remove his jacket. He felt his partner sit heavily down onto the bed and heard him struggle to get his boots off. Jim waited until Artie went over to the sideboard where the washbasin was to speak.

"You're out late, pal," Jim stated flatly.

"What? Oh, hi Jim. I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, Artie. Mind telling me what kept you?"

"Oh Don and I saw something in the newspaper that caught our eye so we went and checked it out," Artie said hoping Jim would let it drop.

"Really, what was it? I must have read the paper five times and I didn't see anything interesting enough to warrant you missing dinner. I assume you at least ate the other two meals?" Jim questioned him with a glare, Artie carefully kept his back to his partner.

"Yeah, Jim, I ate today," Artie said cryptically.

"Artie…" Jim growled.

"Yes, Jim," Artie said as he rinsed his face in the basin.

"Artemus Gordon, I ought to just shoot you here and now. Stop playing games and just answer my question!" Jim shouted.

"All right, all right, yes I did eat today. I ate a big breakfast with Don, we got busy and we both skipped out on lunch and dinner. Jim now is really not the time for this. I'm tired," Artie stated gruffly.

"Now is exactly the time for this, Artie. I want to know what you felt was so damned important that you skipped meals and put a lot of miles on horseback for," Jim demanded.

"Jim, let it go, please," Artie pleaded.

"Let it go, Artie, you're killing yourself and you just tell me to let it go? You're my partner, my friend, hell my brother, and if you're into something heavy I need to know about it," Jim said almost pleadingly.

"Jim…I can't, just drop it, please," Artie couldn't even look at him. Whatever it was Jim noted that it was killing Artie not to tell him.

Just as Jim was going to cross the room to confront his partner, there was a soft knock on the door. Artie reached out opened it. Jim noticed the tension on Artie's face as the straightened. Jim's anger flared even higher. When he was that it was Donovan his interest peaked.

"Come in, Don, have a seat," Jim gestured to a chair. Donovan sat and contemplated his hands for several long moments.

"Something we can do for you, Mr. Donovan?" Jim asked roughly.

"No, but I think there's something I can do for you," Donovan looked at Artie.

"Artie, is there something you'd like to tell me?" Jim was about to snap.

"Mr. West, don't blame Artemus. I forced him to keep my secret. But I heard your argument across the hall and I had to intervene."

"Artie, why don't you lie down before you fall down. Mr. Donovan has some explaining to do and something tells me this might take a while," Jim sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

Artemus peeled off his shirt and lay back on the pillows, not envying Donovan in the least. He listened as Donovan reiterated what he had told Artemus. Jim's facial expressions ranged from confusion to anger to concern and back to confusion. Jim turned to his partner to ask him a question and saw that Artie was passed out sitting up.

"Mr. West, please let him sleep. I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have."

"Okay, lets start with why. Why didn't Washington feel the need to inform us you were a plant? Why couldn't I have left Artie sleeping on the train this week?"

"Well, sir, they felt that if you knew going in to this mission that you wouldn't act accordingly. We needed yours and Mr. Gordon's actions to be as natural as possible."

"Fine, I can understand that, I guess. But why did you choose Artie? Can't you see he's in no shape to be on this mission let alone a side mission?"

"I see that, Mr. West, but I really thought this was the best way to proceed with this mission. I hardly felt that he was in any shape to go hunting so I…" Donovan said.

"So you picked a fight with Matthews and Ketchum on purpose so Artie wouldn't have to go hunting." Jim's expression softened.

"Yes, sir. It was all I could think of and when he confronted me I had no choice but to tell him. I had no idea he would take my mission and run like hell with it," Donovan seemed almost apologetic.

"Don't worry about it, Don. I appreciate what you did. Just next time don't let him run off without eating, he's barely eating enough to keep a bird alive as it is," Jim commented as he glanced at his sleeping friend.

"I promise, Mr. West. I did get him to eat almost all of his breakfast. The rest of the day he kept putting me off and man was my stomach unhappy! Mr. West, how do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Manage Mr. Gordon. I tried every trick in the book and nothing worked."

"It's not easy. When all else fails I use the Partner Privilege," Jim smiled.

"Partner Privilege? I don't recall that ever being taught."

"That's because I made it up. Partner Privilege is when one of us is being extremely difficult or in some cases just plain stupid. It means they have to do what the other one says or the one gets to kick the other's backside."

"Wow, the academy should hear about this. It would come in handy."

"It has it's advantages, but you have to be careful, sometimes it can come back and bite you in the butt."

They sat talking for a while, mostly about the Secret Service and the President. Donovan had heard stories about how close they were and seemed impressed when Jim confirmed it. He listened intently as Jim related some of his personal experiences with President Grant. Jim was beginning to like this young man and thought he showed a lot of promise. Jim suggested they get some sleep. As Donovan reached the door he turned back and grinned at Jim.

"Mr. West, I think I'm going to be sick in the morning and I won't be able to make it to the morning session. If I feel up to it I'll go to the afternoon session," Donovan winked.

"Thank you, Don."