human
Good shootin', sis! he patted her shoulder gently,
gpt
Oh--oh! moaned the girl and covered her eyes again.
human
I've--I've _killed_ a man!
gpt
No, sis--you ain't killed no _man_! Not by no stretch of imagination he ain't no man!
human
But--he's a human being--and--I killed him!
gpt
Say, sis, who do you think you be? Claimin' _you_ killed Purdy! Why, there ain't no more chance you killed him, than there is that I didn't. He extended his hand in which an automatic pistol of large calibre lay flat in the palm.
human
This here gun shoots jest twict as swift as yours. Agin your eight hundred feet of muzzle v'losity, I've got almost two thousan'--an' I'd got in two shots before you begun! Then, too, if you'll take a look around, you'll see that some other folks has got pretty fair claim on him. Take Bill here, his 30-40 rifle shoots half-agin as swift as my automatic--an' he begun shootin' when I did. An' look at the breed, yonder, stickin' fresh shells in his gun. I bet that bird never missed--an' he shot jest a hair before I did. An' the pilgrim he shot, too--but I wouldn't bet on him--he might of missed--but the rest of us didn't. An' I ain't sayin' you _missed_, mind you. 'Cause I think you got him every crack out of the box. But he was dead 'fore you started shootin'. Yup--what you done was to pump about a quart of lead into a dead man, 'fore he could hit the ground--an', believe me--that's _shootin'_! But the killin' part--that goes to the fastest guns.
gpt
Oh, I--I'm glad I haven't got that on my conscience. I'd hate to think that I had killed--even him.
human
Janet--darling, he whispered,
gpt
Yes, she breathed,
human
I know. She's at Cinnabar Joe's--and she told me all about it. And, Tex, I think she's fine!
gpt
She is, an', he indicated Endicott with a nod of his head,
human
Tomorrow!
gpt
Might's well be tomorrow as next week--or next month! Come on--please! You can't get away from me, so you might as well. An' besides here I am, shot in the leg an' if you don't give me my own way I'm likely to run a fever, an' have to get it cut off--so it's up to you, sweetheart--a one-legged man a month from now, or a two-legged one tomorrow. Which?
human
I--I think I'd rather have a two-legged one--darling.
gpt
Say, Cass, whispered Bill Harlow, with an eye on the girl who was bending over the wounded man.
human
I never shot at Purdy--I got that damned skunk down there in the rocks that shot Tex.
gpt
Me, too,
human
I shot at him, too,
gpt
Hell! answered Grimshaw, with a wink,
human
I am proud to be admitted to the friendship of Cass Grimshaw, horse-thief, and--gentleman,