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Old John Sprague launched into his narrative with evident zest

"I hung round Greaves' store most of two days An' I heerd a heap Soot the drift of things concernin' Grass Valley Yestiddy mornin' I was packin' my burros in Greaves' back yard, takin' my time carryin' out supplies froe fellar was thar Strappin' young , either--an' he had on buckskin Hair black as my burros, dark face, sharp eyes--you'd took him fer an Injun He carried a rifle--one of them new forty-fours--an' also somethin' wrapped in paper thet he seemed partickler careful about He wore a belt round his middle an' thar was a bowie-knife in it, carried like I've seen scouts an' Injun fighters hev on the frontier in the 'seventies That looked queer to me, an' I reckon to the rest of the crowd thar No one overlooked the big six-shooter he packed Texas fashion Wal, I didn't hev no idee this fellar was an Isbel until I heard Greaves call him thet

"'Isbel,' said Greaves, 'reckon your money's counterfeit hyar I cain't sell you anythin''

"'Counterfeit? Not old twenties on the bar, where they rung like bells 'Why not? Ain't this a store? I want a cinch strap'

"Greaves looked particular sour thet mornin' I'd been watchin' him fer two days He hedn't hed much sleep, fer I hed ht an' hev long confabs with him Whatever was in the wind hedn't pleased hiood fer Greaves' sore eyes, anyway But he paid no more attention to Isbel Acted jest as if he hedn't heerd Isbel say he wanted a cinch strap

"I stayed inside the store then Thar was a lot of fellars I'd seen, an' sooin', an' drinkin', of course I soon gathered thet the general atmosphere wasn't friendly to Jean Isbel He seen thet quick enough, but he didn't leave Between you an' me I sort of took a likin' to him An' I sure watched him as close as I could, not seemin' to, you know Reckon they all did the saot jest about the same as if Isbel hedn't been in thar, only you knowed it wasn't really the saot the hunch the croas all sheepmen or their friends The day before I'd heerd a lot of talk about this young Isbel, an' what he'd come to Grass Valley fer, an' what a bad hombre he was An' when I seen him I was bound to admit he looked his reputation