“The Peanut Man—it’s Jim Haley! There—see!” She passed her glasses to Elfreda who took a long look.
“You are right, Grace. What does it mean?”
“That we have friends here, J. Elfreda, but I fear something terrible is going to happen. Look!”
The two men had seen each other as their heads were cautiously raised above the tall grass, and both exchanged shots with their revolvers at identically the same second. Then they both ducked back to the protection of the meadow grass.
Jim Haley was on his feet a few seconds later.
“Come out, you sneaking cur!” he shouted. “Stand up like a man!”
The taunt was too much for Haley’s adversary. The fellow leaped to his feet, and, as he leaped, he fired. So did Haley. Neither scored, and, so far as the Overlanders could observe, not a human being except themselves saw the duel that was being fought out there in the meadow. Haley’s adversary ducked, and the Overlanders saw what his strategy was. A slight waving of the grass told them that the fellow was crawling to the left. They did not know whether or not Haley saw that.
A moment or so later the man again sprang up and fired, but the Peanut Man had not been deceived. His revolver banged so quickly that the watchers could not tell which man fired first.
“Good for Jim Haley!” cried Tom Gray.
“Don’t!” admonished Grace. “Tom, don’t forget that this may end in a tragedy.”