e provocation for an assault. But John did not recognize them.
"And this yer's the cattle," said the Colonel, with some severity, "that
some thinks oughter be allowed to testify ag'in' a White Man! Git--you
heathen!"

Still the quarrel remained inexplicable. That two men, whose amiability
and grave tact had earned for them the title of "The Peacemakers," in
a community not greatly given to the passive virtues,--that these men,
singularly devoted to each other, should suddenly and violently
quarrel, might well excite the curiosity of the camp. A few of the more
inquisitive visited the late scene of conflict, now deserted by its
former occupants. There was no trace of disorder or confusion in the
neat cabin. The rude table was arranged as if for breakfast; the pan of
yellow biscuit still sat upon that hearth whose dead embers might have
typified the evil passions that had raged there but an hour before. But
Colonel Starbottle's eye--albeit somewhat bloodshot and rheumy--was more
intent on practical details. On examination, a bullet-hole was found in
the doorpost, and another, nearly opposite, in the casing of the window.
The Colonel called attention to the fact that the one "agreed with" the
bore of Scott's revolver, and the other with that of York's derringer.
"They must hev stood about yer," said the Colonel, taking position; "not
mor'n three feet apart, and--missed!" There was a fine touch of pathos
in the falling inflection of the Colonel's voice, which was not without
effect. A delicate perception of wasted opportunity thrilled his
auditors.

But the Bar was destined to experience a greater disappointment. The two
antagonists had not met since the quarrel, and it was vaguely rumored
that, on the occasion of a second meeting, each had determined to kill
the other "on sight." There was, consequently, some excitement--and,
it is to be feared, no little gratification--when, at ten o'clock, York
stepped from the Magnolia Saloon into the one long straggling street of
the camp, at the same moment that Scott left the blacksmith's shop at
the forks of the road. It was evident, at a glance, that a meeting could
only be avoided by the actual retreat of one or the other.

In an instant the doors and windows of the adjacent saloons were filled
with faces. Heads unaccountably appeared above the river-banks and from
behind bowlders. An empty wagon at the cross-road was suddenly crowded
with people, who seemed to have sprung from