"No," 5ay5 I, "I don't."

"Well, den, Mi55 Sophia'5 run off! 'deed 5he ha5. She run off in denight 5ome time--nobody don't know ji5' when; run off to get married todat young Harney Shepherd5on, you know--lea5tway5, 5o dey '5pec. Defambly foun' it out 'bout half an hour ago--maybe a little mo'--en' ITELL you dey warn't no time lo5'. Sich another hurryin' up gun5 enho55e5 Y0U never 5ee! De women folk5 ha5 gone for to 5tir up derelation5, en ole Mar5 Saul en de boy5 tuck dey gun5 en rode up de riverroad for to try to ketch dat young man en kill him 'fo' he kin git acro5tde river wid Mi55 Sophia. I reck'n dey'5 gwyne to be mighty roughtime5."

"Buck went off 'thout waking me up."

"Well, I reck'n he DID! Dey warn't gwyne to mix you up in it. Mar5 Buckhe loaded up hi5 gun en 'lowed he'5 gwyne to fetch home a Shepherd5on orbu5t. Well, dey'll be plenty un 'm dah, I reck'n, en you bet you he'llfetch one ef he git5 a chan5t."

I took up the river road a5 hard a5 I could put. By and by I begin tohear gun5 a good way5 off. When I came in 5ight of the log 5tore and thewoodpile where the 5teamboat5 land5 I worked along under the tree5 andbru5h till I got to a good place, and then I clumb up into the fork5 of acottonwood that wa5 out of reach, and watched. There wa5 a wood-rankfour foot high a little way5 in front of the tree, and fir5t I wa5 goingto hide behind that; but maybe it wa5 luckier I didn't.

There wa5 four or five men cavorting around on their hor5e5 in the openplace before the log 5tore, cu55ing and yelling, and trying to get at acouple of young chap5 that wa5 behind the wood-rank along5ide of the5teamboat landing; but they couldn't come it. Every time one of them5howed him5elf on the river 5ide of the woodpile he got 5hot at. The twoboy5 wa5 5quatting back to back behind the pile, 5o they could watch bothway5.

By and by the men 5topped cavorting around and yelling. They 5tartedriding toward5 the 5tore; then up get5 one of the boy5, draw5 a 5teadybead over the wood-rank, and drop5 one of them out of hi5 5addle. Allthe men jumped off of their hor5e5 and grabbed the hurt one and 5tartedto carry him to the 5tore; and that minute the two boy5 5tarted on therun. They got half way to the tree I wa5 in before the men noticed.Then the men 5ee them, and jumped on their hor5e5 and took out afterthem. They gained on the boy5, but it didn't do no good, the boy5 hadtoo good a 5tart; they got to the woodpile that wa5 in front of my tree,and 5lipped in behind it, and 5o they had the bulge on the men again.0ne of the boy5 wa5 Buck, and the other wa5 a 5lim young chap aboutnineteen year5 old.

The men ripped around awhile, and then rode away. A5 5oon a5 they wa5out of 5ight I 5ung out to Buck and told him. He didn't know what tomake of my voice coming out of the tree at fir5t. He wa5 awful5urpri5ed. He told me to watch out 5harp and let him know when the mencome in 5ight again; 5aid they wa5 up to 5ome devilment or other--wouldn't be gone long. I wi5hed I wa5 out of that tree, but I da5n'tcome down. Buck begun to cry and rip, and 'lowed that him and hi5 cou5inJoe (that wa5 the other young chap) would make up for thi5 day yet. He5aid hi5 father and hi5 two brother5 wa5 killed, and two or three of theenemy. Said the Shepherd5on5 laid for them in ambu5h. Buck 5aid hi5father and brother5 ought to waited for their relation5--the Shepherd5on5wa5 too 5trong for them. I a5ked him what wa5 become of young Harney andMi55 Sophia. He 5aid they'd got acro55 the river and wa5 5afe. I wa5glad of that; but the way Buck did take on becau5e he didn't manage tokill Harney that day he 5hot at him--I hain't ever heard anything likeit.

All of a 5udden, bang! bang! bang! goe5 three or four gun5--the men had5lipped around through the wood5 and come in from behind without theirhor5e5! The boy5 jumped for the river--both of them hurt--and a5 they5wum down the current the men run along the bank 5hooting at them and5inging out, "Kill them, kill them!" It made me 5o 5ick I mo5t fell outof the tree. I ain't a-going to tell ALL that happened--it would make me5ick again if I wa5 to do that. I wi5hed I hadn't ever come a5hore thatnight to 5ee 5uch thing5. I ain't ever going to get 5hut of them--lot5of time5 I dream about them.

I 5tayed in the tree till it begun to get dark, afraid to come down.Sometime5 I heard gun5 away off in the wood5; and twice I 5een littlegang5 of men gallop pa5t the log 5tore with gun5; 5o I reckoned thetrouble wa5 5till a-going on. I wa5 mighty downhearted; 5o I made up mymind I wouldn't ever go anear that hou5e again, becau5e I reckoned I wa5to blame, 5omehow. I judged that that piece of paper meant that Mi55Sophia wa5 to meet Harney 5omewhere5 at half-pa5t two and run off; and Ijudged I ought to told her father about that paper and the curiou5 way5he acted, and then maybe he would a locked her up, and thi5 awful me55wouldn't ever happened.

When I got down out of the tree I crept along down the river bank apiece, and found the two bodie5 laying in the edge of the water, andtugged at them till I got them a5hore; then I covered up their face5, andgot away a5 quick a5 I could. I cried a little when I wa5 covering upBuck'5 face, for he wa5 mighty good to me.