thing like the head of a cowman. Feel with your thumb
good, Bonnie Bell," says he. "See if you can find any soft spot in
there, like in a melon. See if you can find any place where it feels
like I was going to lay down and let any yellow-livered son-of-a-gun try
to ride me, and me not resent it," says he. "They started this and it's
got to be finished--that's the law. Believe me, one way or the other,
that old white-face over there is going to be a good oxen sometime, and
he'll come up and feed outen my hand."

Bonnie Bell she quits combing and goes over and sets down on the lounge,
and don't say nothing; nor me neither. We both knew about the old man
when he started after anybody. He was that kind of a sher'f. It didn't
look peaceful none to me what might happen now.

"Lock, stock and barrel?" says he to himself. "Lock, stock and
barrel--that's the way we done. I dislike the color of their hair and
eyes. Lock, stock and barrel," says he, "they got to settle! I don't
want no truck with Dave Wisner, nor his old lady, nor their ox, nor
their ass, nor their manservant, nor their maidservant, nor the stranger
inside their gates--everything north of that fence is hostile to us and
everything south of it is hostile to them. There's no crossing."

"Their maidservant and their manservant, dad?" says Bonnie Bell.

"You heard me!"

"What's their maidservant or their manservant got to do with it, dad?"
ast she. She was setting on the lounge now, with the fine-tooth comb in
her hand.

"He'd better not have nothing to do with it," said Old Man Wright.
"Curly, you're foreman--see to it that not one of them crosses the
line."

"All right, Colonel," says I; "orders is orders."

XIV

HOW THEIR HIRED MAN COME BACK

There was only one thing kept that armory from going up right on our
flower beds. The weak side of Old Man Wright was, he couldn't help doing
anything a woman ast him to do. This Katherine girl, one day she comes
down to our place, with the paper in her hand, and she says to him:

"Look here, Colonel Wright," says she, "what's in the paper! Is that
true?"

"If it ain't true," says he, "it may be before long."

"Why, Colonel Wright," says she, looking at him with her eyes wide
open--and when she looked at you thataway couldn't no man help liking
her--"I wisht you wouldn't do that, sir--please!" says she.

"Why not?" says he.

"Well," says she, "because."

He turns around and throws up both hands. He