He looked sheepish, and retreated a pace at every step I advanced. At
this point, however, the black horse started, and I was obliged to
abandon the field for a moment to attend to him, for the reins had
fallen under his feet. I turned the horse around, and then I saw that my
cowardly assailant had armed himself with a club.

CHAPTER V.

A BATTLE AT LONG RANGE.

I was always very fond of a dog and a horse, and had a taste for
everything appertaining to these animals. Darky, as the black horse was
called, and my dog Bully, were prime favorites with me. If I bore a
divided love, it was so equally divided that I could not tell which I
liked the best. I was fond of working over the horse, the wagon, the
harnesses, and most especially I had a decided _penchant_ for a graceful
whip; but I wish to protest, in the same breath, that I never used it
upon Darky. Though I was a firm believer in corporal punishment for
vicious boys and vicious horses, I did not think he ever needed it. I
had a suspicion that Ham Fishley had never had half enough of it, owing
to the fact that he was a spoiled child. It seemed to me then that a
good opportunity had come to supply the deficiency, even if it were
administered strictly in self-defence.

When I had turned Darky, and admonished him to stand still, I saw that
Ham had picked up a club, which appeared to be a broken cart-stake. It
was necessary that I should provide for this new emergency. I glanced at
the wagon, to see if there was anything about it that would answer my
purpose. My eye fell upon the whip, which rested in the socket at the
end of the seat. It was a very elegant whip in my estimation, with a
lash long enough to drive a four-horse team. The brilliant thought
occurred to me that this whip was better than a cart-stake for my
present purpose, and I took it from its place.

I wish to say, most emphatically, in this connection, that I am not a
fighting character; but, in the present instance, I was obliged to fight
or submit to the most degrading abuse. Ham was in the act of asserting
his right, not to ask me, but to order me, in the most offensive manner,
to black his boots, or to perform other menial offices for him. I trust
that I have already proved my willingness to do my duty, and to oblige
even those whom I regarded as my enemies. Ham had made a cowardly
assault upon me, and with the club in his hand he proposed to reduce me
to what he considered a proper sta