"You promised you'd stand by me," reproached Elisha with an injured air.
"Wal, ain't I? If I stay outside ready to trip up the criminal should he make a dash for freedom, ain't that standin' by you? What more do you want?"
"I think 'twould be better was you to go ahead an' pave the way for me. That's how it's done in plays. Some kinder unimportant person goes first an' afterward the hero comes in."
"So you consider yourself the hero of this show, do you?" commented Eleazer sarcastically.
"Ain't I?"
"Wal, you don't 'pear to me to be. Where'd you 'a' got that pistol but for me? Who egged you on an' marched you here—answer me that? You'd 'a' given up beat hadn't I took you by the scruff of the neck an' hauled you here," Eleazer burst out indignantly. "If you ain't the most ungrateful cuss alive! I've a big half mind to go back home an' leave you to do your arrestin' alone."
"There, there, Eleazer, don't misunderstand me," Elisha implored. "I was only jokin'. 'Course it's you an' not me that's the hero of the day. Don't I know it? That's why I was sayin' 'twas you should go into the house first. In that way you'll get all the attention an'—"
"An' all the bullets!" supplemented Eleazer grimly. "No—sir—ee! You don't pull the wool over my eyes that way, 'Lish Winslow. You're goin' to be the first one inside that door an' the last one out. See? You're to do the arrestin'. If there's undertakin' to be done afterwards, I 'tend to do it. You get that clear in your head. Otherwise, I go home."
"Don't do that, Eleazer, don't do that!" Elisha begged. "Don't go home an' leave me—now—at the last minute."
"You'll do the knockin' at the door? The announcin' of our errand?"