"Humph!... On which side?"
"Ramsey, I don't know. I don't know till the time comes."
"Then how do you know you won't fight my brothers—now?"
"I shan't be armed."
"But if in an outburst you should snatch up some weapon?"
"I don't burst out. I don't snatch up."
"Humph! Wish I didn't."
They were rounding Point Breeze. The long reach from Fort Adams down to Red River Landing lay before them. "Hugh, did you ever have a presentiment? Of course not. I never did before. I got it a-comin' round Hard Times Bend."
"Then I can cure it—with a new verse, one our poet has made and given me. It shall be our parting word. Shall I?"
"Oh, yes, but not for parting! I don't want any parting!"