er aige is ondismayed an' cool,
comes to the rescoo.

"'That law proverb you quotes, Doc,' says the Colonel, 'is dead
c'rrect, an' if argyment was to pitch its last camp thar, your
deductions that this benighted Bowlaigs must swing, would be
ondeniable. But thar's a element lackin' in this affair without which
no offence is feasible. The question is,--an' I slams it at you, Doc,
as a thoughtful eddicated sharp--does this yere Bowlaigs open them
letters an' bust into that mail bag _causa lucrae_? I puts this query
up to you-all, Doc, for answer. It's obv'ous that Bowlaigs ain't got
no notion of money bein' in them missives an' tharfore he couldn't have
been moved by no thoughts of gain. Wherefore I asserts that the deed
is not done _causa lucrae_, an' that the case ag'in this he'pless
Bowlaigs falls to the ground.'

"Followin' this yere collision of the classics between two sech
scientists as Peets an' the Colonel, we-all can be considered as
hangin' mighty anxious on what reply Doc Peets is goin' to make. But
after some thought, Peets agrees with the Colonel. He admits that this
_causa lucrae_ is a bet he overlooks, an' that now the Colonel draws
his attention to it, he's bound to say he believes the Colonel to be
right, an' that Bowlaigs should be made a free onfettered b'ar ag'in.
We breathes easier at this, for the tension has been great, an' Dan
himse'f is that relieved he comes a heap clost to sheddin' tears. The
trial closes with the customary drinks; Bowlaigs gettin' his forty
drops with the rest, on the hocks of which he signalises his
reestoration to his rights an' freedom as a citizen by quilin' up in
his corner an' goin' to sleep.

"But the end is on its lowerin' way for Bowlaigs. Thar's a senile
party who's packed his blankets into camp an' who's called 'Major Ben.'
The Major, so the whisper goes, used to be quartermaster over to Fort
Craig or Fort Apache, or mebby now it's Fort Cummings or some'ers; an'
he gets himse'f dismissed for makin' away with the bank-roll. Be that
as it may, the Major's plenty drunk an' military while he lasts among
us; an' he likewise has _dinero_ for whatever nosepaint an' food an'
farobank he sees fit to go ag'inst. From the jump the Major makes up
to Bowlaigs an' the two become pards. The Major allows he likes
Bowlaigs because he can't talk.

"'Which if all my friends,' says the Major, no doubt alloodin' to them
witnesses ag'in him when he's cashiered, 'couldn't