er's eyes, doin' nuthin'. Then Spike says:
'Sounded human, Bill. Like sumone had got his,' an' I seed that he was
a-shiverin'; for 'tain't none pleasant tew be waked out of a sound sleep
by th' death-cry of a human. 'An' it sounded as if it comed from right
ayond that leetle clump of bushes,' an' he pointed a shakin' finger
toward a leetle clump of bushes, 'bout a rod away, that shut out our
view of th' valley. 'I reckon we'd better investergate,' an' we both
began a-crawlin' toward that clump of bushes, not havin' heard no more
sounds.

"Wal," and the shifty eyes shot swift glances from the face of the
alcalde to the faces of the jury and the surrounding crowd, to note the
effect of his words, "when we got tew them bushes an' looked through
'em--" He paused and laid a hand solemnly on the Bible lying on top of
the barrel in front of the alcalde--"so help me God! this is what we
saw. Th' valley in front of th' bushes was level an' open, so that we
could see clear 'cross it; an', 'bout twenty rods from whar we was, we
saw a man strugglin' violently on th' ground with two other men atop of
him, while three hosses stood a leetle ways off a lookin' at 'em; an',
even as we looked, we saw one of th' men flash a knife above his head
an' plunge it down, an' th' man on th' ground stopped strugglin'.

"This was a leetle more'n Spike an' I was a-willin' tew stand for, an'
we both jumps up out of th' bushes, an', drawin' our pistols, we had no
rifles, we yells an' starts for them two men. Both on 'em jumps tew
their feet, an' grabs up their rifles, an', afore you could say Jack,
they had th' both on us covered, we not bein' near enough tew use
our pistols. But we was close enough tew see 'em plain; an', afore
God!--" The man stopped abruptly and, whirling suddenly about, pointed
a finger dramatically directly into the face of Thure--"it was that young
villain a-standin' thar what had his gun a-pointin' straight at me!"

Thure, in utter astonishment, took a quick step backward; and then,
suddenly realizing what that pointing finger meant, backed by those
startling words, he lost all control of himself for the moment and
leaped straight toward Bill Ugger.

"It's a lie! A lie!" he yelled, as with all his young strength he
struggled furiously with the great bulk of his antagonist. But, before
either could do the other any harm, the strong hands of the sheriff
seized Thure by the shoulders.

"Here, you young catamount!" and he jerk