er satisfies a civilized human except a finish fight. He don't care a
hang for points.

Well, we did all kinds o' fancy ropin', an' I was a shade the better at
all of it; but those confounded cusses kept on claimin' it was a tic
until I got het up a little, an' sez 'at we'll have a lassoo duel an'
that'll settle it, even among blind men. This ain't all amusement, this
lassoo-duel on hoss-back, an' I see Andrews look wickedly content.
"Nothing barred," sez he; "we rope hoss or rider, either one."

"Sure thing," sez I. I don't know to this day whether or not he really
thought I was green, but anyhow, he thought he had me at this game, an'
I saw in a moment 'at he had trained his pony; but he didn't have any
advantage over me. I was ridin' Hawkins, an' he had been dodgin' ropes
all his life an' liked the sport. We fenced for an hour without bein'
able to land, an' then he gets his noose over Hawkins' neck. Before he
can draw it tight I rides straight at him; his pony has settled back
for a jerk; I gets my noose over the pony's neck, a loop over Andrew's
right wrist, when he tries to ward it off his own neck, an' then
another loop over his shoulders, pinnin' the left arm an' the right
wrist to his body. My rope was the shorter now so I sets Hawkins back
an' takes a strain. I knew what was goin' to happen when that rope
tightened--he would be twisted out of the saddle an' his right arm
dislocated--an' he knew it too; an' he knew that I was goin' to do it.
The boys was as silent as the ace o'clubs.

His face went pale an' he looked at me with beggin' eyes, but mine was
hard as stone. I hated him for all the devil-thoughts he had put into
my head, an' I wanted to see him twisted an' torn. Then I just happened
to see two riders comin' in from toward the ranch house. I knew by
instinct it was Jabez an' Barbie, an' just as Andrews started to twist
in the saddle I touched Hawkins with the spurs, rode up to him, threw
off the loops, put a smile on my face--an' shook hands with Bill
Andrews, while all the boys give a cheer. I was pantin' an' tremblin',
but I don't think it was noticed, as I kept that smile as easy-goin'
an' good-natured as a floatin' cork.

Well, I kidded with the boys until Jabez got through decidin' on what
he wanted done with the different bunches, an' then when he an' Barbie
rode back to the house I went along. I made sure to brazen it out as
much as possible, an' not to give the impression that I was as het