Then as two or three of the men drew in closer he raised his free hand.
"This thing lies between Jake and me, and I'm open to deal with him," he said.

"Still, I've got the ax here if more of you stand in." The man scarcely raised his voice, but it was clear that he was quietly and dangerously resolute.

Indeed, his attitude rather pleased some of the rest, for there was a fresh murmuring, and a cry of, "Give the Kid a show!" Then, and nobody was afterward quite certain who struck first, the trial by combat suddenly commenced.

There are very few rules attached to it in that country, where men do not fight by formula but with the one purpose of deciding the matter in the quickest way possible; and in another moment the two had clinched.

They fell against the tree stump and reeled clear again, swaying, gasping, and striking when they could.