teen miles from Reno, right in a narrow little gorge I
saw two men comin' toward us. They were in a buggy and I knew right away
from the looks of their horses that they could make good time. Besides,
when I saw the men I knew they were both strangers and, to tell the truth
I didn't like the way either one o' 'em acted.

"When they came pretty close to where we were I turned out to give them
most of the road for I didn't want any trouble as long as I had my mother
along. Perhaps I told you she was with me.

"Well, the first thing I knew the men all of a sudden swung over toward me
and before I knew what was going on they had locked their buggy wheel with
mine. They pretended to be mad, but I knew right away that this was a part
o' their game. It was worse than two to one for I not only had to fight
for myself, but for my mother. However, she is pretty game and she saw
what was up so she turned to me and said, said she, 'Zeke, you hand me the
reins and I'll look after the horses and you get out and help untangle
those wheels.' When I got out of the buggy both the men laughed and that
rather stirred me. 'You seem to be mighty easy to please,' I said. You see
I was younger then than I am now, and didn't have so much sense."

"Where did you get the new sense?" inquired Grant solemnly.

"Oh, once in a long time I run up against a fellow that come from the
East. He usually gave me all the advice I needed and never charged me a
cent for it either."

The boys laughed at Grant's confusion, but ignoring the interruption Zeke
continued with his tale, "I tried to appear unconcerned like and I said to
one of the men, 'Take hold here and give me a lift, I'm 'most afraid to
back down any further for fear I'll tip my mother out.' They didn't either
of 'em offer to help me, in fact neither one of them got out of the buggy
and when I took hold of my horse's head and tried to back away they just
moved up their horses so that the wheels kept locked just as they had been
before. I looked at the wheels and pretty quick I made up my mind that
mine were a good deal stronger than theirs. I had told my mother when I
took the reins that she had better get out while we were tryin' to break
loose there. Of course she did what I told her. I was afraid the men might
draw their guns, but still I thought maybe the fact that I had my mother
along with me might make 'em hesitate a little. There are mighty few men
even in the mines that will do anything