In them shone a flash of cold humor.

He stood, quietly contemplating his insulter.
Smiles appeared on the faces of several of the onlookers.

The tall man with the grave face watched with a critical eye.

The insult had been deliberate, and many men crouched, plainly expecting a serious outcome.
But the stranger made no move toward his guns, and when he answered he might have been talking about the weather, so casual was his tone.
"I reckon you think you're a plum man," he said quietly.

"But if you are, you ain't showed it much--buttin' in with that there wise observation.