women folks has gone for to stir up de relations, en ole Mars Saul en de boys tuck dey guns en rode up de river road for to try to ketch dat young man en kill him 'fo' he kin git acrost de river wid Miss Sophia.  I reck'n dey's gwyne to be mighty rough times.” “Buck went off 'thout waking me up.” “Well, I reck'n he _did_!  Dey warn't gwyne to mix you up in it.  Mars Buck he loaded up his gun en 'lowed he's gwyne to fetch home a Shepherdson or bust. Well, dey'll be plenty un 'm dah, I reck'n, en you bet you he'll fetch one ef he gits a chanst.” I took up the river road as hard as I could put.  By and by I begin to hear guns a good ways off.  When I come in sight of the log store and the woodpile where the steamboats lands I worked along under the trees and brush till I got to a good place, and then I clumb up into the forks of a cottonwood that was out of reach, and watched.  There was a wood-rank four foot high a little ways in front of the tree, and first I was going to hide behind that; but maybe it was luckier I didn't. There was four or five men cavorting around on their horses in the open place before the log store, cussing and yelling, and trying to get at a couple of young chaps that was behind the wood-rank alongside of the steamboat landing; but they couldn't come it.  Every time one of them showed himself on the river side of the woodpile he got shot at.  The two boys was squatting back to back behind the pile, so they could watch both ways. By and by the men stopped cavorting around and yelling.  They started riding towards the store; then up gets one of the boys, draws a steady bead over the wood-rank, and drops one of them out of his saddle.  All the men jumped off of their horses and grabbed the hurt one and started to carry him to the store; and that minute the two boys started on the run.  They got half way to the tree I was in before the men noticed. Then the men see them, and jumped on their horses and took out after them.  They gained on the