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 "I ain't stuck on Arizona," said Jerome; "I'm stuck on Mamie."

"But is Mamie stuck on you?" asked Jack. "When did you ask her last?"

"Not sence we was both ten," said Jerome uneasily.

"That's a long time lost, ain't it? I asked Mary every time I run up agin her this last seven years."

"Well, I never reckoned on no Remington," said Jerome bitterly. "I'm stuck, fair stuck. If I kill thishyer Remington, Paw won't give me no start; and if Remington kills me, I'm shore out of it."

"That's so," said Jack Higginson. "I own you don't seem to hev no luck. Supposin' you conclude that Mamie ain't the girl you took her for, Jerome? From what Mary said it seems girls are dead set on havin' their own way. It seems like this, that if she's set on Remington, she won't hev you if you kill him; and if she's set on you, she won't hev Remington."

"It looks like it," said Jerome; "but what of that?"