youngster goin' bad quick. An' I'm here to add that he'll take some
company along."

"Bate, you forgot to tell how he handled Luce," said Red Pearee.
"You was there. I wasn't. Tell Kells that."

"Luce. I know the man. Go ahead, Bate," responded Kells.

"Mebbe it ain't any recommendation fer said Jim Cleve," replied
Wood. "Though it did sorta warm me to him. ... Boss, of course, you
recollect thet little Brander girl over at Bear Lake village. She's
old Brander's girl--worked in his store there. I've seen you talk
sweet to her myself. Wal, it seems the old man an' some of his boys
took to prospectin' an' fetched the girl along. Thet's how I
understood it. Luce came bracin' in over at Cabin Gulch one day. As
usual, we was drinkin' an' playin'. But young Cleve wasn't doin'
neither. He had a strange, moody spell thet day, as I recollect.
Luce sprung a job on us. We never worked with him or his outfit, but
mebbe--you can't tell what'd come off if it hadn't been for Cleve.
Luce had a job put up to ride down where ole Brander was washin' fer
gold, take what he had--AN' the girl. Fact was the gold was only
incidental. When somebody cornered Luce he couldn't swear there was
gold worth goin' after. An' about then Jim Cleve woke up. He cussed
Luce somethin' fearful. An' when Luce went for his gun, natural-
like, why this Jim Cleve took it away from him. An' then he jumped
Luce. He knocked an' threw him around an' he near beat him to death
before we could interfere. Luce was shore near dead. All battered
up--broken bones--an' what-all I can't say. We put him to bed an'
he's there yet, an' he'll never be the same man he was."