Ranch Life 103 



another Greek, who dropped him dead in his tracks. 

 Shortly afterwards, I was passing the Irishman's 

 house, and marked a red-headed urchin playing 

 on the porch. In reply to my question : " Whose 

 boy is that ? " the Irishman murmured mysteriously : 

 "Sorr — 'tis me daughter's husband's chi-i-ild." 

 The name of the vanquished and the dead was 

 too inglorious to be mentioned. 



The parson's son listened attentively to what we 

 said, but he remarked in conclusion : " Of course I 

 shall be careful, but — " He never finished the 

 sentence ; we inferred from the tone that his 

 father's son did n't want to fight, hut — / Not long 

 after he struck a man, a foul-mouthed, drunken 

 blackguard. Before the parson's son knew what 

 had happened, he was stabbed, and he died a few 

 hours later. The man was arrested, tried by a jury 

 of his peers, and acgioitted 1 



