“You don’t understand, sir,” the guard said. “I’m talking about you. You can’t come in here.”
“Wait a minute. Are you calling me a disreputable figure?”
“No, sir, I’m just telling you that this is a closed reception and unless you have a personal invitation from the governor, you cannot come in.”
“Well, the gentleman being honored and I are old friends,” Smoke said.
“Do you have an invitation?”
“No.”
The guard smiled triumphantly. “Well, if you were old friends, you would have an invitation now, wouldn’t you? I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t come in. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Why don’t we just ask the man being honored?” Smoke suggested. He started into the room.
“Sir, if you don’t leave now, I am going to personally throw you out of here!”
Smoke looked at the guard. The guard was a big man and it was obvious that he could handle himself. But at the same time Smoke was looking the guard over, the guard was taking stock of Smoke, and Smoke could see by the expression on his face that he wasn’t looking forward to any encounter with someone Smoke’s size.
Smoke sighed. The guard was just doing his job.
“All right,” Smoke said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.” He pointed to the lobby. “I’ll wait out here. I would appreciate it, though, if you would tell Matt Jensen that Smoke is here.”
At that moment, the governor happened to glance over toward the door and saw Smoke standing in the door. Breaking into a wide smile, the governor came over to extend a personal greeting.
“Smoke Jensen,” Governor John Long Routt said, extending his hand. “How good to see you.”
“Hello, John,” Smoke replied, returning the smile.
“Governor, this man doesn’t have an invitation,” the guard said.
“Really? Well, don’t worry about it, Mitchell,” the governor said. “Mr. Jensen and I are old friends.”
“Oh. Mr. Jensen, I’m sorry I didn’t know. I hope you don’t take offense.”
“Don’t be sorry, my friend,” Smoke said. “You were just doing your job. And, if I may say so, you were doing it quite well.”
“Uh, yes, sir. Thank you, sir. But you should’a said you were a friend of the governor. You said you were a friend of the man being honored.”
“Indeed he is, Mitchell,” Governor Routt said. “In fact, he is much more than a friend. Perhaps you didn’t catch his last name. It is Jensen.”
“Jensen? Oh, you mean like Matt Jensen, the man getting the award tonight?”
“Yes,” Governor Routt said. “Come with me, Smoke, I’m sure Matt is looking for you.”
Smoke shook his head. “I doubt it,” he said. “I didn’t tell him I was coming. I wanted to surprise him.”
“Oh. Well, that is even better. Come along.”
Smoke followed the governor through a cloud of aromatic tobacco and pipe smoke. He saw Matt before Matt saw him. It was easy to pick Matt out from the crowd. His young protege stood over six feet tall with broad shoulders and narrow hips. His blond hair seemed even more yellow than Smoke remembered.
Matt didn’t see Smoke right away, because he had his back turned and he was surrounded by almost half-a- dozen very beautiful women, each woman vying for his attention. As Smoke approached, the women broke out into laughter over some story Matt was telling.
“You always were able to spin a good yarn,” Smoke said.
Recognizing Smoke’s voice, Matt turned toward his mentor with a broad smile on his face.
“Smoke! What are you doing here?”
“You are getting an award from the governor, aren’t you?” Smoke replied. “I had to be here.”
Matt took Smoke’s hand in his and the two shook hands and clasped each other on the shoulder.
“Ladies, this is Smoke Jensen,” Matt said.
“Did you say Jensen?” one of the women asked.
“I sure did.”
“Is he your brother?” another asked.
Matt nodded. “Yes, indeed,” Matt said. “Smoke is my brother.”
There was a dinner after the reception, and though Smoke offered to leave, he was persuaded to stay when he learned that the governor had made special arrangements for him at the head table. When all were seated, Governor Routt tapped his spoon on the crystal goblet. The clear ringing sound could be heard above all the laughter and conversation, and it had the desired effect of silencing the guests.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege tonight to host this banquet in honor of Matthew Jensen, one of Colorado’s leading citizens.
“Last winter during an attempted train robbery, some bandits killed both the engineer and the fireman of the Midnight Flyer. Now, the dead man’s throttle is supposed to stop the train anytime the engineer is incapacitated, but it failed, and rather than stopping the train as the bandits planned, their action caused a runaway train. Matt Jensen was a passenger on that train. And while he knew nothing about the attempted holdup, he did realize,
