“Nobody is regarded as a coward for trying to avoid trouble with Sam Hooker. People say anybody who won’t get out of the way and let him alone is a fool.”
“I shall not run away from Mr. Hooker.”
“Remember he carries pistols.”
“It doesn’t make any difference if he carries cannons. Go ahead with the work of putting in my scenery. I shall stay here till the last piece is in.”
“That’s all right, Frank,” said Ephraim; “but there ain’t no need of yeou gittin’ chawed up by this pirut. I an’ Wynne’ll stay here ter look aout fer the stuff, an’ yeou better go to the hotel.”
Frank regarded Gallup with astonishment.
“Well, by Jove!” he exclaimed. “That beats! I didn’t think I’d hear anything like that from you!”
The Vermonter reddened a little.
“Darn it!” he cried. “There ain’t no reason why yeou shouldn’t be keerful. That ain’t bein’ a coward.”
“Of course not,” hastily put in Sawyer, the local stage manager. “Didn’t I tell you nobody is regarded as cowardly for attempting to avoid trouble with Sam Hooker.”