fools settin' up thar like a band of prairie-dogs don't hang this
yere Cherokee Hall. 'Nother thing, you ain't goin' to hang nobody to
the windmill ag'in nohow. I has my work to do, an' thar's enough on
my hands, feedin' sech swine as you-alls three times a day, without
havin' to cut down dead folks outen my way every time I goes for a
bucket of water. You-alls takes notice now; you don't hang nothin'
to the windmill no more. As for this yere Cherokee, he ain't stopped
no more stages than I be.'

"'But you sees yourse'f, ma'am, you hasn't the slightest evidence
tharof,' says Enright, tryin' to soothe her down.

"'I has, however, what's a mighty sight better than evidence,' says
Missis Rucker, 'an' that's my firm convictions.'

"'Well, see yere,' says Cherokee, who's been listenin' all peaceful,
'let me in on this. What be you-alls doin' this on? I reckons I'm
entitled to a look at your hand for my money.'

"Enright goes on an' lays it off for Cherokee; how he's outen camp
every time the stage is robbed, an' the idee is abroad he does it.

"'As the kyards lay in the box,' says Cherokee, 'I don't reckon
thar's much doubt but you-alls will wind up the deal by hangin' me?'

"'It's shorely five to one that a-way,' says Enright. 'Although I'm
bound to say it ain't none decisive as yet.'

"'The trooth is,' says Cherokee, sorter thoughtful, 'I wasn't aimin'
to be hung none this autumn. I ain't got time, gents, for one thing,