his face were deep, and his large mouth
twitched as he said: --

"Hold on here, yeh fools! There's too
much blood in you to spill. You'll spile
th' floor, and waste good stuff. We need
blood out here!"

Gillispie bounced to his feet. Henderson
arose suspiciously, keeping his eyes on his
assailants.

"Oh, get up!" cried the intercessor.
"We don't shoot men hereabouts till they
git on their feet in fightin' trim."

"What do you know about what we do
here?" interrupted Gillispie. "This is the
first time I ever saw you around."

"That's so," the other admitted. "I'm
just down from Montana. Came to take up
a quarter section. Where I come from we
give men a show, an' I thought perhaps yeh
did th' same here."

"Why, yes," admitted Gillispie, "we do.
But I don't want folks to laugh too much
-- not when I'm around -- unless they tell
me what the joke is. I was just mentioning