Ware turned on him quick as a flash.
"No man ever got my hands up!"
"No?" said Bob, hugely delighted at the success of his stratagem. "What do you do, then, when a man gets the cold drop on you?"
But now Ware saw the trap into which his feet were leading him, and drew back into his shell.
"Oh, shoot out, or bluff out," said he briefly.
"But look here, Ware," insisted Bob, "it's all very well to talk like that. But suppose a man actually has his gun down on you. How can you 'shoot out or bluff out'?"
Ware suddenly became serious.
"No man," said he, "can hold a gun on you for over ten seconds without his eyes flickering. It's too big a strain. He don't let go for mor'n about the hundredth part of a second. After that he has holt again for another ten seconds, and will pull trigger if you bat an eyelash. But if you take it when his eyes flicker, and are quick, you'll get him!"
"What about the other way around?" asked Bob.
"I never pulled a gun unless I meant to shoot," said Ware grimly.