human
If I turn you loose, Buck, what will you do?
gpt
If you--Ward, I'll prove I'm a friend to yuh in spite of the idea you've got that I ain't. I never done nothing--
human
No, of course not. Ward's lip curled.
gpt
That was my mistake, maybe. You always used to say you were my friend, when--
human
And that's the God's truth, Ward! Buck's face was becoming flushed with his eagerness.
gpt
I done everything I could for you, Ward, but the way the cards laid I couldn't--
human
Get me hanged. I know; you sure tried hard enough!
gpt
Say, Ward, them lawyers lied to you.
human
Oh, cut it out, Buck. I've seen you wriggle through a snake-hole before. I believe you're my friend, just the way you've always been.
gpt
That's right, Ward, and I can prove it.
human
You proved it, old-timer, when you laid up there behind a rock with your sights on this shack, ready to get me when I came out. I sabe now how it happened Jim McGuire was found face down in the spring behind his shack, with a bullet hole in his back, that time. You were his friend, too!
gpt
Ward, I--
human
Shut up. I just wanted to see if you'd changed any in the last seven years. You haven't, unless it's for the worse. You've got to the end of the trail, old-timer. When you went laying for me, you fixed yourself a-plenty. Do you want to know what I'm going to do with you?
gpt
Ward, you wouldn't dare shoot me! With the record you've got, you wouldn't stand--
human
Who gave it to me, huh? Oh, I heap sabe; you've left word with your pardners that you were coming up here to arrest me single-handed. They will give the alarm, if you don't show up; and I'll go on the dodge and get caught and--
gpt
Well, you can rest easy on one point. I'm not going to shoot you. Ward stood still and watched the light of hope flare in the eyes of his enemy.
human
I'm going to wash the dishes and take a shave--and then I'm going to take you out somewhere and hang you.
gpt
My God, Ward! You--you--