The posse takes Denver Pacific to connect with Black River to Dodge, and then takes Black River on to Memphis. The trip takes about three days. Vorpwhistle passes the time working on a design for an occult gizmo that doesn't, in the end, pan out. Elder Tanner preaches to fellow passengers, with little success, though Cady does bribe some young men into listening to him. They're less than respectful, however. They hear on the trail about the terrible yellow fever epidemic that occurred in Memphis over the summer.
In Memphis, they rent a tent and quickly find out that there is a silver coin in town... in the Hunt-Phelan house, where Mina Devlin lives. They end up spending only one night in the tent before abandoning it for much nicer rooms at the Gateway Hotel (though they pass on the Presidential Suite). Something about not dying of plague appeals to them, after they discover that people are still dying of the fever and more so in the tent city.
That night, Robert has a fuzzy dream about evil cloaked figures and their minions, worshiping dark idols... one of the figures goes with its minion and forges a weapon from two silver coins - a dueling pistol.
Investigating, they find out that Mina is extremely well regarded around town, and has strong connections with the local government. She is also a social center of the city, and is having a Halloween Ball at the end of the month. Tobey spends the morning with some grave diggers learning more about the epidemic. Robert finds that there is a Ranger in town - Whiskey Pete - and arranges for the posse to meet him. He also hears from a soldier that Lee's campaign is doing very well, and Lee is likely to win the election. Which is what is expected from a soldier, really.
At this point there begins a movement to make Tobey over a bit, cleaning her up for respectable company. A new outfit is ordered, and a fancy eye patch. Also a new pass-time:
"Maybe you should start smoking cigars. It's a higher-class odious habit."
They meet with the Ranger and tell him about Nicodemus having passed through and in general what the man can do. The Ranger, a tall man with a peacock feather in his hat named Whiskey Pete Nesler, gives them the impression that he thinks they are crazy, but agrees to telegraph Austin. It takes several days for him to get in contact with Robert again, but when he does he passes on thanks from the Rangers for the alert. They don't know where Nicodemus is, however (or at least aren't telling the posse).
Robert has another dream where he visits with the Old One from the canyon. This one is much more clear - it seems that the Old One basically has come to Robert, to discuss the other dream. His take is that the forces of evil aren't really friends, and have made this weapon to deal with each other. They have more powerful magics than any that remain to the forces of good... if Robert could obtain the weapon, it would be a potent weapon.
"Is this live eye for the dead guy?" - the general party reaction on Tobey's make-over.
MM: Vorpwhistle tries to find a train route to Memhis that doesn't involve travelling through Dodge, assuming that the posse got run out of Dodge while he wasn't paying attention.