"You might not be able to do it. They would be two to one."
"Not quite, Ben. I'd look for some help from you."
"I would give you all the help I could," said Ben.
"I know you mean it, and that you wouldn't get scared, and desert me, as a cousin of mine did once when I was set upon by robbers."
"Was that in California?"
"No; in Kentucky. I had a tough job, but I managed to disable one of the rascals, and the other ran away."
"What did your cousin have to say?"
"He told me, when I caught up with him, that he was goin' in search of help, but I told him that was too thin. I told him I wouldn't keep his company any longer, and that he had better go his way and I would go mine. He tried to explain things, but there are some things that ain't so easily explained, that I wouldn't hear him. I stick to my friends, and I expect them to stand by me."
"That's fair, Jake."
"That's the way I look at it. I wonder where them rascals are?"