"See here, Shirley, tell me at once what you want," said Sam, in his spirited way.
"I want to take you to your father; he's been heart-broken, thinking you were dead; so come down, and I pledge you my honor as a gentleman that I will take you to Hurley's Gulch," said Shirley, in accents intended to be reassuring and soothing.
"Your honor as a gentleman?" repeated Sam with a ring of sarcasm.
"Yes, that's what I said."
"And we'll let you three young fellers ride our horses," added the landlord.
"And you will also pledge your honor, as a gentleman, to do that?" said Sam.
"Oh, I'll swear to it," said the landlord.
"Thanks, but the security being false and worthless, I must decline your offer," said Sam, surprised at his own coolness and his ready command of language.
"Then you won't come down?" from Shirley.
"Thanks, not to-night."