l, but he sent it, any way, an' we started
out.

"'Last chance!' he yells, when the border's reached, 'better come
back!'

"'We ain't quitters!' Bull shouts back, an' on we go, six of us, an'
close on to half a million dollars in dust among the lot. Every man
had a rifle, a six-shooter, an' plenty o' ammunition. All was
old-timers an' quick on the shoot. We reckoned we could take care of
ourselves, good an' plenty. Any way, we weren't goin' to land
anywheres until we struck Circle, so there wouldn't be no danger.

"We hadn't got more'n ten miles the other side o' the line, jest
beyond the little minin' camp of Eagle, when of a sudden:

"'Spat!'

"A bullet strikes the boat, right at the water line, an' she begins to
leak.

"It was pretty shootin', an' every man reaches for his gun. There's a
curl o' smoke driftin' up from a pile o' rock, but no one shoots,
knowin' well the marksman's under cover. We trims the boat, to keep
the hole out o' water, and then:

"'Spat! Spat!'

"One on each side. We stuffs some bits o' rag in the holes, but the
boat begins to fill. One side o' the river's sheer rock, an' there
ain't no landin' there. Cussin' free, an' every man wi' his rifle
ready, we beaches the boat on the other shore an' gets out, ready for
the scrap.

"Then some one starts to talk, over our heads, hidden in the rocks:

"'Gents, I'm sure sorry to stop your trip! There's twenty of us, an'
each has his man covered. It ain't no use for you to make trouble.
Them as is reasonable can leave their bags o' dust an' their pop-guns
on the beach, an' walk off fifty paces to the left. Them as wants to
show their shootin' can wait jest two minutes by the watch, an' the
fun'll begin, us havin' the pick o' the shots an' bein' under cover.
The cards is stacked agin you, gents, an' there ain't no use to
play.'

"We all shoots back, o' course, more to relieve our feelin's'n
anything else, for we knows this new-style road-agent has dodged back
to cover.

"Me an' four others, we don't hesitate. We lays our bags o' dust an'
our guns on the beach an' toddles off, as directed. Then I looks back
an' sees Bull standin' there, alone.

"He's a durn fool an' I knows it. But he's my pardner, is Bull!

"I goes back an' tries to persuade him to eat crow. But Bull's
stubborn as a mule an' don't budge. I ain't a-goin' to leave him. So
we both stands there.

"The road-agent has been takin' this in, an' presently he pipes up:

"'Very