Verbally cut him down to size.

Joyce eyed the brute up and down, assessing him.

"Somehow, sir, I seriously doubt you could provide anything that I might 'need'," she said, her tone contemptuous.

The man's face turned red and his eyes filled with rage as his fellows laughed at him. Joyce cracked a self-satisfied smile and tried to step past the bear sized man. As she did, he grabbed her arms and slammed her against the wall, nearly knocking the breath out of her.

"Stuck up whore!" he bellowed in anger. "I'll teach you some respect!" With that, he slapped her across her face with one hand while the other held her up against the wall. He drew his arm back for another strike, but it never came. Without warning, the man just seemed to crumple and fall to the floor with a solid thud that echoed through the now-silent lobby. Standing over the fallen mountain man stood a tall, clean-shaven man in a red serge jacket, black pants and a fur hat. Although he carried a sidearm, he had not drawn it from his hip holster but had still managed to fell the giant anyway. He looked up at Joyce with his piercing brown eyes and bright smile. His not unhandsome face showed the weathering of a man who lived in this rough country, but was not eroded by the harsh environment.

"Yes, Constable," Joyce said as she inconspicuously pushed her Colt Navy revolver back into the jacket pocket she kept it in. "Nothing I couldn't have handled."

The Mountie smiled and managed to suppress a chuckle. "I'm sure you could."

Turning his attention to the fallen lummox, the Mountie helped him to stand and stared him directly in the face.

"Go turn yourself in at the post, Mack," he said with authority. "And don't make me come after you if you don't."

Mack mumbled something under his breath as he walked out of the hotel, hanging his head. The Mountie watched the man mountain leave before turning his attention back to Joyce.

"I would be obliged if you could come to the post to prefer charges, once you're settled in of course," he said politely.

Joyce nodded. "Would tomorrow morning be convenient, Constable?"

"That would be just fine, Miss Jacobs," he replied with a small nod. "Good afternoon." He turned on his heel and left the hotel. It did not escape Joyce's notice that the Mountie was a strapping man who filled out his uniform nicely.

Turning back to the stairs, she followed the bellboy as he led the way to her room.