't filled," he said.

"I don't know much about fillin' LANTERNS," I remarked to him kindly,
"but I have had some experience in fillin' other things. Bring me the
lantern, filled an' lighted--and don't keep me waitin'."

I then noticed two fellers a hoss back. "Do you belong to this outfit?"
sez I.

"Yes, we're the night riders," answered one o' 'em stickin' up his
hands, which plan seemed good to the other one also.

"What are you doin' here this time o' the evenin'?" I asked 'em.

"We heard the racket an' we--we thought something was wrong, an' we--we
came in to see--"

"That's all right," sez I, "I'm the new foreman. You don't need to put
your hands up every time we meet, but I want you to understand right
now that I don't want those cows pestered any more. This outfit is
going to run smoother from this on, an' as soon as the cook feels
better he is going to cook my supper. I'll see that there is plenty o'
coffee for your midnight lunch, an' I want you to enjoy yourselves--but
I don't stand for no nonsense."

I made a motion with my eye an' they rode back to the herd, an' by that
time the lantern had arrived, an' I poked around in the cook's
belongings an' confiscated two shootin' irons an' a wicked Mexican
knife. Then I threw a bucket o' water in his face an' he came out of it.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Oh, hell," he moaned, an' he meant every word of it, an' more.

"Now see here, cook," sez I, in a mild voice, "I hate trouble, an' I
don't intend to be pestered with it. Do you know how to cook?"

"Yes," he muttered.

"Speak out free an' easy," I sez; "no blood at all is better than bad
blood, an' if you don't feel able to forgive me an' go about your work
in a friendly way, why I'll feel compelled to remove you from our
midst. You're not injured none, only bruised a bit, and I'm famished
for my supper. I'm always quick tempered when I'm hungry an' I'm
gettin' hungrier every minute. Are you ready to begin?"

He slowly got up to his feet an' looked at me. "Come over to the fire
an' have a good look," I said, as though we were old friends.

He followed me over to the fire an' he sure gave me a lookover. "You're
bigger'n I thought you was, an' you've been purty well seasoned. I
ain't never yet been licked without a gun an' I didn't think it could
be did. Will you fight me again--without weapons?" "I'll never fight
you again but once," sez I, an' my lips were smiling, but all of a
sudden a hatred