The bandit was after a girl. This girl was
in the hotel, an' she was the sweetheart of a soldier, the young
fellow's friend. The hotel was watched by Rojas's guards, an'
the plan was to make a fuss an' get the girl away in the excitement.
Well, Jim an' me got a hint of our bein' Americans--that cowboys
generally had a name for loyalty to women. Then this amazin'
chap--you can't imagine how scornful--said for me an' Jim to watch him.
"Before I could catch my breath an' figger out what he meant by
'rush' an' 'rough house' he had knocked over a table an' crowded
some Greaser half off the map. One little funny man leaped up like
a wild monkey an' began to screech. An' in another second he was
in the air upside down. When he lit, he laid there. Then, quicker'n
I can tell you, the young man dove at Rojas. Like a mad steer on the
rampage he charged Rojas an' his men. The whole outfit went
down--smash! I figgered then what 'rush' meant. The young fellow
came up out of the pile with Rojas, an' just like I'd sling an empty
sack along the floor he sent the bandit. But swift as that went
he was on top of Rojas before the chairs an' tables had stopped
rollin'.
"I woke up then, an' made for the center of the room. Jim with me.
I began to shoot out the lamps. Jim throwed his guns on the crazy
rebels, an' I was afraid there'd be blood spilled before I could get
the room dark. Bein's shore busy, I lost sight of the young fellow
for a second or so, an' when I got an eye free for him I seen a
Greaser about to knife him.
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