yesterday while Dad fixed the blockin'; I always do it that way."

Buck looked at him in amazement. "Well, why in thunder don't you
show th' boys, then?" he burst forth at last.

" 'Cause if I do Wash Gibbs'll hear of it sure, and I'll have to
fight him to settle which is th' best man."

"Good Lord!" ejaculated Buck, with a groan. "If you're afraid o'
Wash Gibbs, it's th' first thing I ever knowed you t' be scared
o'."

Young Matt looked his friend steadily in the eyes, as he replied;
"I ain't afraid of Wash Gibbs; I'm afraid of myself. Mr. Howitt
says, 'No man needn't be afraid of nobody but himself.' I've been
a thinkin' lately, Buck, an' I see some things that I never see
before. I figure it that if I fight Wash Gibbs or anybody else
just to see which is th' best man, I ain't no better'n he is. I
reckon I'll have to whip him some day, alright, an' I ain't a
carin' much how soon it comes; but I ain't a goin' to hurt nobody
for nothin' just because I can."

Buck made no reply to this. Such sentiment was a little too much
for his primitive notions. He went back to the men by the
blacksmith shop.

It was not long, however, until the players left their game, to
gather once more about the engine. Lem Wheeler approached Young
Matt with a serious air; "Look a here," he said; "we all want t'
see you try that lift."