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 Some galoot hez bin fillin' up Ben's mind with suspicions about her, and they say he ain't spoke to a soul this three days. I met him by the court-house, and he was ez white as raw cotton, and was talkin' to himself. When a man does that it's real dangerous; there's trouble afoot, to bee sure. I hankered some to stay and see it out, but I'd fixed to see old Mackenzie over to my place about them steers, and if I missed him he'd be worse to deal with than a rattler. I never did see sech a man, plumb locoed he is at times. Gedge is very sore about the Habershams: he's stuck on Mis' Habersham himself, eh?"

I thought Mr. Sibley Ranger was safer at Double Mountain Fork than in town, and said so.

"Waal, I dessay," he drawled; "my tongue's my cross, and it'll get me into trouble shore. I own it. But if you hurry up you may see the crisis. The crisis is comin' along or I ain't a jedge of crisises. There was that look about Ben Habersham which nat'rally eventuates in the deadly exhibition of a double-pronged scatter-gun, or I'm the closest example