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"Wal, Ellen, you reot here Yestiddy I heerd you called thet name in a barroom An' thar was a fellar thar who raised hell He near killed one man an' made another plumb eat his words An' he scared thet crowd stiff"

Old John Sprague shook his grizzled head and laughed, bea upon Ellen as if the memory of what he had seen had warmed his heart

"Was it--y'u?" asked Ellen, tremulously

"Me? Aasn't nowhere Ellen, this fellar was quick as a cat in his actions an' his words was like lightnin''

"Who? she whispered

"Wal, no one else but a stranger jest come to these parts--an Isbel, too Jean Isbel"

"Oh!" exclaimed Ellen, faintly

"In a barroom full of men--almost all of them in sympathy with the sheep crowd--most of them on the Jorth side--this Jean Isbel resented an insult to Ellen Jorth"

"No!" cried Ellen So to her mind or her heart

"Wal, he sure did," replied the old ood fer you to hear all about it"