dumb that I can't catch onto the game what
Lacy is tryin' ter play. I didn't hear what you an' him was talkin'
about, so I don't know just the cause o' the rumpus, but the way he
played his hand didn't make no hit with me."

"You saw what happened?"

"Sure; it didn't look good ter me, his gittin' yer ter come ter his
place, specially when I knew he wasn't there alone; so, after ye'd gone
in through the saloon, I sasshayed down the alley an' took a peek in
through that rear window. The tarnation thing is barred up with sheet
iron, an' I couldn't see much, nor hear a blame word, but I caught on
that there was liable ter be a row a fore it was over with. Through
that peep-hole I got sight o' you, Lacy, an' that fat feller--what's
his name?"

"Enright, a New York lawyer."

"That's it; well I could make out the three of yer, but I never got
sight of the other buck--his name was Beaton, wasn't it?--till he came
out from behind the curtain and gripped yer. It was a put-up job all
right, an' maybe I ought to have hustled round to the door an' took a
hand. But I don't aim to mix up in no scrimmage as long as both sides
has got a fair show. Course thar was three ag'in' one, but arter you
kicked the wind out o' the lawyer, the odds wasn't so bad, an' I sorter
hated to lose out seeing how the scrap came out. Holy smoke! but you
sure put up some dandy fight, Jim. I ain't seen nuthin' better since I
struck this yere camp. You had them two guys licked to a frazzle, when
that Enright come back to life agin, an' crawled out on the floor an'
picked up your gun. The fust thing I knew he had it, an' the next
thing I knew he'd pulled the trigger. He meant it fer you, but Beaton
got it."

"It was Enright then who fired the shot?"

"Sure it was Enright; I saw him, but that didn't cut any ice after I
got inside. Do you see? The whole crowd was Lacy's gang; they'd do
whatever he said. It was your gun that had the discharged cartridge;
Bill was yellin' that you fired it, and Enright, o' course, would have
backed him up to save his own neck. You was in a fight with the feller
what was shot. See! It was a mighty ugly fix, an' nobody in that
outfit would 'a' listened to me. It struck me, son, that Lacy was
all-fired anxious to get rid of you--he saw a chance, and jumped for
it. What was the row about--your mine?"

"Partly, but mostly another affair. The best thing I can do is tell
you about it. What's going on up ther