“’After Easy Aaron holds forth for two hours, Waco preevails on him with a six-shooter to pause for breath.  Waco’s tried twenty times to get Easy Aaron to stop long enough to let the Stranglers get down a verbal bet, but that advocate declines to be restrained.  He treats Waco’s efforts with scorn an’ rides him down like he, Easy Aaron, is a bunch of cattle on a stampede.  Thar’s no headin’ or holdin’ him ontil Waco, in desperation, takes to tyrannisin’ at him with his gun.

“’"It’s this,” says Waco, when Easy Aaron’s subdooed.  “If the eminent gent will quit howlin’ right yere an’ never another yelp, the committee is willin’ to throw this villain Shoestring loose.  Every one of us is a slave to dooty, but we pauses before personal deestruction in a awful form.  Billy Goodnight is gone; ondoubted his murderer should win the doom meted out for sech atrocities; but dooty or no dooty, this committee ain’t called on to be talked to death in its discharge.  Yellow City makes no sech demands of its servants; wherefore, I repeats, that if this Easy Aaron sits mute where he is, we agrees to cut Shoestring’s bonds an’ restore him to that freedom whereof he makes sech florid use.”

“‘At this, Easy Aaron stands up, puffs out his chest, bows to Waco an’ the others, an’ evolves ’em a patronisin’ gesture signifyin’ that their bluff is called.  Shoestring Griffith is saved.

“‘Doorin’ the subsequent line-up at the bar which concloods the ceremonies, Easy Aaron waxes indignant an’ is harrowed to observe Billy Goodnight imbibin’ with the rest.

“’"I thought you-all dead!” says Easy Aaron, in tones of wrathful reproach.

“‘"Which I was dead,” says Billy, sort o’ apol’getic, “but them words of fire brings me to.”

“’Easy Aaron don’t make no answer, but as he jingles the fee the sour look relaxes.

“’As I remarks, Easy Aaron ain’t with us over long.  Yellow City is that much worse off than Wolfville that she has a little old ’doby calaboose that’s been built since the old Mexico days.  Thar’s no shore-enough jedge an’ jury ever comes to Yellow City; an’ if the kyards was so run that we has a captive which the Stranglers deems beneath ’em, he would be drug ’way over yonder to some county seat.  It’s but fair to say that no sech contretemps presents itse’f up to the advent of Easy Aaron; an’ while thar’s now an’ then a small accoomulation of felons doorin’ sech seasons as the boys is off on the ranges or busy with the roundups, thar never fails to come a clean-up in plenty of time.  The Stranglers comes back; jestice resoomes her sway, an’ the calaboose is ag’in as empty as a church.

“‘It befalls, however, that doorin’ the four or five weeks to follow the acquittal of that homicide Shoestring, an’ while Waco Anderson an’ a quorum of the committee is away teeterin’ about in their own affairs, the calaboose gets filled up with two white men and either four or five Mexicans—­I can’t say the last for shore, as I ain’t got a good mem’ry for Mexicans.  These parties is held for divers malefactions from shootin’ up a Greaser dance-hall to stealin’ a cow over on the Honeymoon.