“Remain here two minutes and I’ll bring him in.”
Now, before coming into the room with the fellow, Mr. Jones had observed James N. Cartter—commonly known on the Pacific Coast as Big Jim Cartter—sauntering around the saloon. As is well known to everybody in this city, and pretty generally throughout the towns and cities of Nevada and California, Jim Cartter is a powerfully-built man, standing over six feet in his stockings, a man who is “on the shoulder” and who is at home with either knife or pistol, as more than one grave can testify. Calling to Cartter, Mr. Jones briefly made known the situation and invited him in to interview the “war-hoss of the hills.”
This was as good a thing as Cartter wanted, and into the room they went.
“Here,” said Jones, as they entered the room, “is the man. Nobody will disturb you here, and after all is over the best man is the man for my coin.”
Jim waltzed into the room with his hat standing on two hairs and a wicked smile playing upon his features. Said he:
“Is this the blessed infant that has come to eat me up? Is this the Calaveras skunk that has come over here to set himself up as ‘Chief?’ Move back the chairs!”
With this Cartter began to wriggle from side to side in the effort to “shuck” himself of the long-tailed black coat he always wore, and in so doing he displayed on one side that famous old white-handled, sixteen-inch bowie-knife, his constant companion, and on the other the butt[butt] of a navy revolver.
“So this is the lop-eared cur of Calaveras who comes here to set up as a fighter? Move the chairs to the wall!” cried Cartter still wriggling at his coat.
“Mr. Jones,” cried the mighty devourer of men, “Mr. Jones this man is a friend of yours. I can’t fight any friend of yours. With any friend of yours I am a lamb; I could not harm a hair of his head!”
“No friend at all. He is a fighter like yourself. Besides, what has friendship got to do with a transaction involving $1,000? I want the best man I can find. If you whip this fellow I hire you as my fighter. That’s all there is about it.”