"'Never mind about arrangin' nothin',' says Shotgun; 'I quits you
after the next drink; which libation I takes alone.' An' Shotgun
rides away.

"What is the matter with Shotgun? Well, he's one of these yere
murderin' folks, goin' about downin' Mexicans merely to see 'em
kick, an' that sort of thing, an' all of which no se'f-respectin'
outfit stands. He wins out his name 'Shotgun' them times when he's
dep'ty marshal over at Prescott.

"'You must be partic'lar an' serve your warrant on a gent before you
downs him,' says the judge, as he gives Shotgun some papers. 'First
serve your warrant, an' then it's legal to kill him; but not
without!'

"So Shotgun Dowling takes this yere warrant an' crams it down the
muzzle of a shotgun an' hammers her out flat on top them buckshot.

"'Thar you be!' says Dowling. 'I reckons' now the warrant gets to
him ahead of the lead; which makes it on the level.'

"Tharupon Shotgun canters out an' busts his gent--warrant, lead an'
all--an' that gives him the name of 'Shotgun' Dowling.

"But at the time he comes riotin' along into Wolfville, allowin'
he'll reside some, he's regyarded hard; havin' been wolfin' 'round,
copperin' Mexicans an' friskin' about general; so, nacheral, we
warns him out as aforesaid. Which I, tharfore, ag'in remarks, that
Wolfville is a mighty proper an' peaceful place, an' its witticism
with this yere Signal Service party needn't be inferred ag'inst it.