"Jes' ventilate the promiscuous disposition of that animal of your'n, stranger."
As he spoke, he coolly raised his pistol, preparatory to sweeping it down and firing point-blank at poor Maud. But Coyote Pete was on him with a wild yell.
"Here, here, none of that in this camp, stranger," he bellowed, as his mighty arms bore the astonished prospector to the ground, and they rolled over and over; "ef you've got any nuggets lyin' loose you don't want, give 'em to us to decorate that noble creature, but you'll shoot me afore you shoot Maud."
As for Jack, after his first alarm, all he could do was to roar with laughter at the two big Westerners rolling about on the ground, and filling the air with vigorous expletives.
"Here, here, get up," he cried at length. "Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"
The two stopped their struggle for a moment and scrambled to their feet.
"I'll take back my remarks about your mule," said the prospector, apparently unruffled by the sudden strenuous interlude.
"And I'll withdraw my objection to you on account of that bullet you fired at us last night," said Pete solemnly.
"Accepted," said the ranger with equal gravity, "and now, if you two fellers feels like scoffin'——"