"'It's a fact,' says Billy afterward, 'thar's hours when I more'n
half allows this yere squaw of 'Doby's has done took a knife, or
some sech weepon, an' gets even with 'Doby, while he sleeps, for me
pluggin' her paw about the mule. It's this yere idee which takes me
outen the shaft I'm sinkin', an' sends me cavortin' up to 'Doby's
camp. I passes a resolution on my way that if she's cashed 'Doby's
chips for him that a-way, I'll shorely sa'nter over an' lay waste
all Chihuahua to play even for the blow.'
"But as all turns out, them surmises of Billy's is idle. He gets
mebby easy six-shooter distance from the door, when he discerns a
small cry like a fox-cub's whine. Billy listens, an' the yelp comes
as cl'ar on his years as the whistle of a curlew. Billy tumbles.
"'I'm a Chinaman,' says Billy, 'if it ain't a kid!'
"So he backs off quiet an' noiseless ontil he's dead safe, an' then
he lifts the long yell for 'Doby. When 'Doby emerges he confirms
them beliefs of Billy's; it's a kid shore-'nough.
"'Boy or girl?' says Billy.
"'Boy,' says 'Doby.'
"'Which I shorely quits you cold if it's a girl; says Billy. 'As it
is, I stands by you in your troubles.
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