n' the lead frekent 'fore daylight
come around. Howsum, it wus the cause o' the trouble as I wus gassin'
'bout. Y' see, Brown was one of them juicy fellers that chawed hunks
o' plug till you could nose Virginny ev'ry time you got wi'in gunshot
of him. He was a cantankerous cuss was Brown, an' a deal too free wi'
his tongue. Y' see he'd a lady with him; leastways she wus the
pot-wolloper from the saloon he favored, an' he guessed as she wus
most as han'some as a Bible 'lustration. Wal, 'bout the time the
rotgut wus flowin' good an' frekent, they started in to pool fer the
prettiest wench in the room, as is the custom down ther'. Brown, he
wus dead set on his gal winnin', I guess; an' 'Dyke Hole' Bill, he'd
got a pretty tidy filly wi' him hisself, an' didn't reckon as no daisy
from a bum saloon could gi' her any sort o' start. Wal, to cut it
short, I guess the boys went dead out fer Bill's gal. It wus voted as
ther' wa'n't no gal around Spawn City as could dec'rate the country
wi' sech beauty. I guess things went kind o' silent when Shaggy Steele
read the ballot. The air o' that place got uneasy. I located the door
in one gulp. Y' see Brown was allus kind o' sudden. But the trouble
come diff'rent. The thing jest dropped, an' that party hummed fer a
whiles. Brown's gal up an' let go. Sez she, 'Here, guess I'm the dandy
o' this run, an' I ain't settin' around while no old hen from Dyke
Hole gits scoopin' prizes. She's goin' to lick me till I can't see, ef
she's yearnin' fer that pool. Mebbe you boys won't need more'n half an
eye to locate the winner when I'm done.' Wi' that she peels her waist
off'n her, an' I do allow she wus a fine chunk. An' the 'Dyke Hole'
daisy, she wa'n't no slouch; guess she wus jest bustin' wi' fight. But
Brown sticks his taller-fat nose in an' shoots his bazzoo an'----

"An' that's most as fer as I got when along comes that all-fired
'dead-eyes' an' points warnin' at me while he ogled me with them gummy
red rims o' his. An', sez he, 'You light right out o' here sharp,
Arizona; the place fer you scum's down in the bunkhouse. An' I'm not
goin' to have any skulkin' up here, telling disreputable yarns to my
gal.' I wus jest beginnin' to argyfy. 'But,' sez I. An' he cut me
short wi' a curse. 'Out of here!' he roared. 'I give you ten minutes
to git!' Then she, Miss Dianny, bless her, she turned on him quick,
an' dressed him down han'some. Sez she, 'Father, how can you be so
unkind after what Arizona has