“We was makin’ a round-up down below Separ then, and there was ten of us and the chuck wagon when we made camp at night.  Well, one night, Pard Huff, he was scareder than ever, and the boys struck his gait right off and kep’ him a-runnin’.  I did n’t know they was goin’ to blaze him quite so bad or I ’d have done my best to stop the thing.  Well, and they would n’t, either, if he had n’t been the meanest sort of a coward that ever laid awake nights.  He asked each of us separate, and then all of us in a bunch at supper, if there was any danger of Apaches down there, and we-all told him there was, lots of it.  One of the boys said he ’d seen signs over toward Hatchet Mountain that very day that sure meant Apaches, and another said he ’d heard that a little ranch about forty mile away had lately been cleaned out by them and everybody killed.  Then we-all talked about it and agreed that they might come on us any minute, that most likely they ’d attack us that very night and that we ought to be ready for them.

“Well, sir, that Pard Huff, he never said another word.  He just set there with his eyes getting bigger and his face whiter every minute.  We kep’ it up and told stories about the way them devils do—­everything we ’d ever heard of—­how they hold you and pull out your tongue, or cut off your ears, or run a stake through you and pin you to the ground, or smash your face to a jelly with a rock, or burn you alive, till Pard Huff did n’t know which end he was a-standin’ on a-tall.

“We got out our blankets and turned in, but just kep’ a-talkin’ about the Apaches till that Pard Huff, he was shakin’ as if he had a fit.  One of the boys said he ’d bet if the Apaches did come, Pard Huff would get his ears cut off the first rattle, because they was so big the Injuns could n’t see nothin’ else a-tall in camp till they got them out of the way.  And then bang! bang! bang! went some six-shooters, the boys yelled ‘Injuns!’—­’Apaches!’ as loud as they could, and the feller on the other side of Pard Huff (Pard was layin’ next to me) yelled out.  ’Boys, I ‘m killed!’ says he, and he rolled over on his face and kicked and yelled and groaned.  Then bang! bang! bang! went the six-shooters again; and then you ought to have seen that Pard Huff!  Well, sir, he was sure buffaloed!  He jumped out of his blankets and let out one yell.  The chuck wagon was right behind us, and he give one jump and went clean over it and lit out across country like an antelope.  You-all just ought to ’ve seen that tenderfoot pull his freight!

“The boys come up a-laughin’ and watched him run.  They was a-bettin’ he would n’t stop till he got to Apache Teju, but I said it was n’t right to buffalo him that bad.  So we-all yelled and called him to come back, but he only run the faster.  The durn fool tenderfoot thought it was the Apaches chasin’ him!  We-all thought he ’d soon find out there was nothin’ wrong a-tall and come back, and so we went to bed again.  But he did n’t.