"'That's straight,' Armstrong declar's. 'This yere El Paso savant can
spell anything. Which I've seen him spell the hind shoes off a
shavetail mule for the drinks. He's the boss speller of the Rio
Grande, so much so they calls him "Spellin' Book Ben."'

"'Let's rope him up,' Peets suggests. 'Which them Red Dogs never will
quit talkin' if we-all lets 'em down us.'

"'Do you-all reckon,' asks Enright, appealin' to Armstrong, 'you could
lure that El Paso expert up yere to partic'pate in this battle of the
intellects?'

"'It's as easy as playin' seven-up,' Armstrong replies. 'Which I'll
write him I needs his aid to count up the stock in my store, an' you
bet he'll come a-runnin'.'

"'But s'ppose,' argues Tutt, 'these Red Dog crim'nals wakes up to it
that this yere Spellin' Book Ben's a ringer?'

"'In that event,' declar's Texas, 'we retorts by beltin' 'em over the
heads with our guns. Be they, as guests, to go dictatin' terms to
us?'

"'Not onless they're tired of life,' says Boggs. 'While I can't spell
none to speak of, seein' my Missouri youth is more or less neglected
by my folks, showin' some Red Dog felon whar he's in wrong is duck
soup to me. In a play like that I sees my way triumphant.'

"'Shore!' Texas insists, mighty confident; 'let Red Dog wag one feeble
y'ear, an' we buffaloes it into instant submission.'

"'They can't make no objections stick,' Enright observes, after
thinkin' things over. 'This Spellin' Book Ben person'll be workin' for
Armstrong, an' that, as the Doc says, makes him a _pro tem._ citizen
of the camp. As sech he's plumb legit'mate. Red Dog couldn't lower its
horns at him as a hold-out, even if it would.'

"It's settled, an' from then on thar's nothin' talked of but spellin'
schools. We issues our deefiance, Peets b'arin' the same, an' Red Dog
promptly calls our bluff. Regyardin' themselves as entrenched in that
gifted Wells-Fargo book-keep, they're mighty eager for the fray. The
_baile_ is set two weeks away, with Peets to hold the spellin' book.

"After the time is fixed Monte comes squanderin' along an' gets
Enright to move it one day further on.

"'Because, Sam,' the old sot urges, puffin' out his chest like he
amounts to somethin', 'that partic'lar evenin' you pitches upon I'll
be at the other end of the route, an' I proposes to get in on this
yere contest some myse'f.'

"'You?' says Boggs, who overhears him, an' is nacherally astonished
an' contempchoous at Monte's nerve