others sprang away from the table, I
kicked it over in clearing myself, and came to my feet just as The
Rebel fired his second shot. I had the satisfaction of seeing his
long-haired adversary reel backwards, firing his guns into the ceiling
as he went, and in falling crash heavily into the glassware on the
back bar.

The smoke which filled the room left nothing visible for a few
moments. Meantime Priest, satisfied that his aim had gone true,
turned, passed through the rear room, gained his horse, and was
galloping away to the herd before any semblance of order was restored.
As the smoke cleared away and we passed forward through the room, John
Officer had one of the three pardners standing with his hands to the
wall, while his six-shooter lay on the floor under Officer's foot. He
had made but one shot into our corner, when the muzzle of a gun was
pushed against his ear with an imperative order to drop his arms,
which he had promptly done. The two others, who had been under the
surveillance of our men at the forward table, never made a move or
offered to bring a gun into action, and after the killing of their
picturesque pardner passed together out of the house. There had been
five or six shots fired into our corner, but the first double shot,
fired when three of us were still sitting, went too high for effect,
while the remainder were scattering, though Rod Wheat got a bullet
through his coat, close enough to burn the skin on his shoulder.

The dead man was laid out on the floor of the saloon; and through
curiosity, for it could hardly have been much of a novelty to the
inhabitants of Frenchman's Ford, hundreds came to gaze on the corpse
and examine the wounds, one above the other through his vitals, either
of which would have been fatal. Officer's prisoner admitted that the
dead man was his pardner, and offered to remove the corpse if
released. On turning his six-shooter over to the proprietor of the
place, he was given his freedom to depart and look up his friends.

As it was after sundown, and our wheel was refilled and ready, we set
out for camp, where we found that Priest had taken a fresh horse and
started back over the trail. No one felt any uneasiness over his
absence, for he had demonstrated his ability to protect himself; and
truth compels me to say that the outfit to a man was proud of him.
Honeyman was substituted on our guard in The Rebel's place, sleeping
with me that night, and after we were in bed, B