the gen’leman that runs the Beach—­lookin’ at my company and me kind of anxious, and pretty soon he got me away from Mr. Cory and told me what’s what.  Seems this Cory only wanted me to go with him to make my husband mad, and he’d took good care that Mr. Fear heard I’d be there with him!  And he’d be’n hangin’ around me, every time he struck town, jest to make Mr. Fear mad—­the fresh thing!  You see he wanted to make my husband start something again, this Mr. Cory did, and he was fixed for it.”

“I don’t understand,” said Ariel.

“It’s this way:  if Mr. Fear attacted Mr. Cory, why, Mr. Cory could shoot him down and claim self-defence.  You see, it would be easy for Mr. Cory, because Mr Fear nearly killed him when they had their first trouble, and that would give Mr. Cory a good excuse to shoot if Mr. Fear jest only pushed him.  That’s the way it is with the law.  Mr. Cory could wipe out their old score and git off scot-free.”

“Surely not!”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s the way it would be.  And when Mike told me that Mr. Cory had got me out there jest to provoke my husband I went straight up to him and begun to give him a piece of my mind.  I didn’t talk loud, because I never was one to make a disturbance and start trouble the way some do; and right while I was talkin’ we both see my husband pass the window.  Mr. Cory give a kind of yelling laugh and put his arm round me jest as Mr. Fear come in the door.  And then it all happened so quick that you could hardly tell what was goin’ on.  Mr. Fear, we found afterwards, had promised Mr. Louden that he wouldn’t come out there, but he took too much—­you could see that by the look of him—­and fergot his promise; fergot everything but me and Cory, I guess.

“He come right up to us, where I was tryin’ to git away from Cory’s arm—­it was the left one he had around me, and the other behind his back—­and neither of ’em said a word.  Cory kept on laughin’ loud as he could, and Mr. Fear struck him in the mouth.  He’s little, but he can hit awful hard, and Mr. Cory let out a screech, and I see his gun go off—­ right in Mr. Fear’s face, I thought, but it wasn’t; it only scorched him.  Most of the other gen’lemen had run, but Mike made a dive and managed to knock the gun to one side, jest barely in time.  Then Mike and three or four others that come out from behind things separated ’em—­both of ’em fightin’ to git at each other.  They locked Mr. Cory up in Mike’s room, and took Mr. Fear over to where they hitch the horses.  Then Mike sent fer Mr. Louden to come out to talk to my husband and take care of him—­he’s the only one can do anything with him when he’s like that—­but before Mr. Louden could git there, Mr. Fear broke loose and run through a corn-field and got away; at least they couldn’t find him.  And Mr. Cory jumped through a window and slid down into one of Mike’s boats, so they’d both gone.  When Mr. Louden come, he only stayed long enough to hear what had happened and started out to find Happy—­that’s my husband.  He’s bound to keep them apart, but he hasn’t found Mr. Fear yet or he’d be here.”