I fancied for the moment that it must be to see whether I was nervous, and the blood flushed to my cheeks now, and made me look defiant.
"Why, Joe, my lad, what is it ?" he said quietly.

"Won't you shake hands ?" "Oh! yes," I cried, placing mine in his, and he gave it a long, firm grip.
"I ought," he said, after a pause, "to have said more about the troubles, like this one, which I might have known would arise, when we arranged to start; but somehow I had a sort of hope that we might make a peaceful journey, and not be called upon to shed blood.

Joe, my lad, we shall have to fight for our lives." "And shoot down these people ?" I said huskily.
"If we do not, they will shoot us.

Poor wretches, they probably do not know the power of our guns.

We must give them the small shot first, and we may scare them off.