knows what I'm sayin', do you? I wouldn't say anything to hurt the
poor feller's feelin's fer--"

"He doesn't know what you are saying," said Barnes.

"But, dern it, he jest now looked at me in the funniest way. It's
given me the creeps."

"Go on," said one of the men.

"Well, I hadn't any more'n got to our front gate when I heard some one
running in the road up there behind me. 'Fore I knowed what was
happenin', bang went a gun. I almost jumped out'n my boots. I lept
behind that big locus' tree in front of our house and listened. The
runnin' had stopped. The hosses was rarin' an' tearin' so I thought
I'd--"

"Where'd the shot come from?" demanded Jones.

"Up the road some'eres, I couldn't swear just where. Must 'a' been up
by the road that cuts in to Green Fancy. So I thought I'd hustle in
an' see if pa was awake, an' git my gun. Looked mighty suspicious,
thinks I, that gun shot. Jest then pa stuck his head out'n the winder
an' yelled what the hell's the matter. You betcher life I sung out who
I was mighty quick, 'cause pa's purty spry with a gun an' I didn't
want him takin' me fer burglars sneakin' around the house. While we
wuz talkin' there, one of the hosses started our way lickety-split,
an' in about two seconds it went by us. It was purty dark but we see
plain as day that there was a man in the saddle, bendin' low over the
hoss's neck and shoutin' to it. Well, we shore was guessin'. We waited