the Iron Man's
temper. In vain the onlookers warned him to go easy. His face purpled
with anger, and his blows became savage. But Billy went on, tap, tap,
tap, calmly, gently, imperturbably. The Iron Man lost control,
and rushed and plunged, delivering great swings and upper-cuts of
man-killing quality. Billy ducked, side-stepped, blocked, stalled, and
escaped all damage. In the clinches, which were unavoidable, he locked
the Iron Man's arms, and in the clinches the Iron Man invariably laughed
and apologized, only to lose his head with the first tap the instant
they separated and be more infuriated than ever.

And when it was over and Billy's identity had been divulged, the Iron
Man accepted the joke on himself with the best of humor. It had been a
splendid exhibition on Billy's part. His mastery of the sport, coupled
with his self-control, had most favorably impressed the crowd, and
Saxon, very proud of her man boy, could not but see the admiration all
had for him.

Nor did she prove in any way a social failure. When the tired and
sweating players lay down in the dry sand to cool off, she was persuaded
into accompanying their nonsense songs with the ukulele. Nor was it
long, catching their spirit, ere she was singing to them and teaching
them quaint songs of early days which she had herself learned as
a little girl from Cady--Cady, the saloonkeeper, pioneer, and
ax-cavalryman, who had been a bull-whacker on the Salt Intake Trail in
the days before the railroad.

One song which became an immediate favorite was:

"Oh! times on Bitter Creek, they never can be beat, Root hog or die is
on every wagon sheet; The sand within your throat, the dust within your
eye, Bend your back and stand it--root hog or die."

After the dozen verses of "Root Hog or Die," Mark Hall claimed to be
especially infatuated with:

"Obadier, he dreampt a dream, Dreampt he was drivin' a ten-mule team,
But when he woke he heaved a sigh, The lead-mule kicked e-o-wt the
swing-mule's eye."

It was Mark Hall who brought up the matter of Billy's challenge to race
out the south wall of the cove, though he referred to the test as lying
somewhere in the future. Billy surprised him by saying he was ready at
any time. Forthwith the crowd clamored for the race. Hall offered to
bet on himself, but there were no takers. He offered two to one to Jim
Hazard, who shook his head and said he would accept three to one as a
sporting proposition. Billy heard and g