“ ‘Somebody’s got to go and tell her,’ said I. I was kind o’ leadin’ the boys. ‘Who’ll do it?’ Nobody jumped at the proposition.
“ ‘Red Conlin’ says I, ‘you’re the man to tell her, and the only man here what could open his mouth to the poor girl. Go, like a man, and may the Lord teach you what to say, for d——d if I can.’
“That boy never hesitated. I saw him kind o’ wet his hand, and smooth back his red curls in the dark, and I seen his teeth shinin’ as he said:
“ ‘I’ll go, boys; wait for me.’
“He went and we saw the door open and let him in.
“ ‘May the Lord help that poor widder,’ we all said, ‘and d——n us for bunglin’, murderin’ butchers what ain’t no right to call ourselves men.’
“It was fifteen minutes, maybe, when Red came back.
“ ‘How is it’?’ we whispered, almost afraid to hear him speak.
“ ‘It’s fixed,’ says Red, ‘and the widdy and I asks ye to the weddin’ nixt Chuesday night.’
“That fellow Red Conlin could talk.”