“‘Jewhilikens!’ sez he, nearly out o’ breath; ‘thar’s goin’ ter be great doings hyur this evenin’. Some foolish cuss went for ‘Red’ Lawson, an’ he’s goin’ to keelhaul him this evenin’. He’ll do it too, I b’lieve, for he’s in a terrible rage.’
“‘Do yer know who the man is?’ I asked.
“‘No,’ sed he.
“‘I do,’ sez I.
“‘Ye do. Who is it?’ exclaimed Buck.
“‘Ralph Bison,’ I replied, az quietly az I could. Buck instantly wanted me to gather up my traps an’ clear out, ‘fur,’ sez he, ‘ye’ll never see the light o’ another day.’ I refused to move a step, an’ then Buck told me he would see fair play.
“‘If,’ sez he, ‘“Red” Lawson tries foul play, I’ll put an ounce o’ lead in his black heart, an’ do a good deed.’
“Toward evenin’ we went out, an’ soon I saw ‘Red’ comin’ toward me wid a crowd follerin’ him.
“When he got close up, he drew a knife an’ made a rush at me. Nothin’ loth, I drew mine, but at the first strike both o’ the weapons flew from our hands. We daren’t draw our pistols at that short distance, so ‘Red’ he struck at me wid his fist.
“I dodged, an’ guv him a blow behind the ear that kind o’ made him see stars an’ smell the ground.