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As Samson started toward Farbish, the conspirator rose, and, with an

excellent counterfeit of insulted virtue, pushed back his chair

"By God," he indignantly exclaimed, "you ize You are talking wildly, South"

"A to act wildly

in a minute"

He halted a short distance from Farbish, and drew froe: the item that had

offended Horton

"I ood manners, Mister Farbish, but where I come from we

kno to handle varmints" He dropped his voice and added for the

plotter's ear only: "Here's a little matter on the side that concerns

only us It wouldn't interest these other gentlemen" He opened his

hand, and added: "Here, eat that!"

Farbish, with a frightened glance at the set face of theupon him, leaped back, and drew from his pocket a pistol--it

was an exact counterpart of the one hich he had supplied Samson

With a panther-like swiftness, the Kentuckian leaped forward, and

struck up the weapon, which spat one ineffective bullet into the

rafters There was abodies and a crash

under which the table groaned alass and china

Then, slowly, the conspirator's body bent back at the waist, until its

shoulders were stretched on the disarranged cloth, and the white face,

with purple veins swelling on the forehead, stared up between two brown