"This yere onbosomin' of himse'f to the Colonel ain't none discreet
of Peets. The Colonel has many excellencies, but keepin' secrets
ain't among 'em; none whatever. The Colonel is deevoid of talents
for secrets, an' so the next day he prints this yere outrage onder a
derisive headline touchin' Huggins' froogality.

"Huggins don't grade over-high for nerve an' is a long way from
bein' clean strain game; but he figgers, so I allers reckons, that
the Colonel ain't no thunderbolt of war himse'f, so when he reads as
to him an' Peets an' them treemors an' the whiskey checks, he starts
in to drink an' discuss about his honor, an' gives it out he'll have
revenge.

"It's the barkeep at the Red Light posts Colonel Sterett as to them
perils. A Mexican comes trackin' along into the Colonel's room in
the second story--what he calls his 'sanctum'--with a note. It's
from the barkeep an' reads like this:

RED LIGHT SALOON.

DEAR COLONEL:--

Huggins is in here tankin' up an' makin' war medicine. He's packin'
two guns. He says he's going to plug you for that piece. I can keep
him here an hour. Meanwhile, heel yourse'f. I'll have him so drunk
by the time he leaves that he ought to be easy.

Yours sincerely,
BLACK JACK.