Page:Morley roberts--Painted Rock.djvu/166

 wishes he hed. You cayn't do nothin' with a thing like that. He rubs his derned ole leg and sobs, and Paw gets mad and hands out the dollars, wishin' it was lead. And then he says, 'The boy o' mine that resorts to guns in a difficulty ain't goin' to seecure no blessin' of mine and no share o' my property.'"

"Hum," said Jack, "that's very hard on a high-sperrited son o' Texas. I say, I'll think upon it as I ride into the Rock, Jerome. And mebbe I'll ask Mary's opinion. She's no love for thishyer derned Easterner Remington. She says he daren't walk out in the Rock when it's dark. But I dunno, women sez very spiteful things, and Remington don't look so easy to scare as that. I'll think it over, Jerome."

"I wish you would," replied Jerome; "and now I must whack into this derned ole mesquite for firewood. I wish I hed Remington's neck under the axe."

And Jack Higginson rode into town thinking.

"Blame me if I know," said Jack. "After