the other "on sight." There was, consequently, some excitement--and,
it is to be feared, no little gratification--when, at ten o'clock, York
stepped from the Magnolia Saloon into the one long straggling street of
the camp, at the same moment that Scott left the blacksmith's shop at
the forks of the road. It was evident, at a glance, that a meeting could
only be avoided by the actual retreat of one or the other.

In an instant the doors and windows of the adjacent saloons were filled
with faces. Heads unaccountably appeared above the river-banks and from
behind bowlders. An empty wagon at the cross-road was suddenly crowded
with people, who seemed to have sprung from the earth. There was much
running and confusion on the hillside. On the mountain-road, Mr. Jack
Hamlin had reined up his horse, and was standing upright on the seat of
his buggy. And the two objects of this absorbing attention approached
each other.

"York's got the sun," "Scott'll line him on that tree," "He's waitin'
to draw his fire," came from the cart; and then it was silent. But
above this human breathlessness the river rushed and sang, and the
wind rustled the tree-tops with an indifference that seemed obtrusive.
Colonel Starbottle felt it, and in a moment of sublime preoccupation,
without looking around, waved his cane behind him, warningly to all
nature, and said, "Shu!"

The men were now within a few feet of each other. A hen ran across the
road before one of them. A feathery seed-vessel, wafted from a wayside
tree, fell at the feet of the other. And, unheeding this irony of
nature, the two opponents came nearer, erect and rigid, looked in each
other's eyes, and--passed!