"
"What!" exclaimed Paul, "did he dare that, too?"
"Yes. His object, of course, was to humiliate me--and all of us. It was
stopped by one who came in at the right moment. You couldn't guess who it
was."
"It must a-been Shif'less Sol," said Long Jim, whose mind ran to physical
deeds. "I guess he sent a bullet right into the middle uv that rascal
crew. Sol's the boy to be right on the spot when he's needed."
Henry laughed.
"No, Jim," he said. "That's a pretty wild guess. It was none other than
Father Montigny, the man whom we helped. He paid us back sooner than we
thought. You ought to have seen him, Paul. He looked like an avenging
angel. He stood there, a single, unarmed man, and they were afraid of him.
I could see fear on every one of their faces."
Paul's vivid imagination instantly painted the whole scene. It appealed to
him with tremendous power. It was the triumph of mind and character over
force and wickedness.
"I can see Father Montigny now," he said. "A man who always does right and
has no fear whatever of death, is afraid of nothing, either in this world
or the world to come."
"Which gives him a pow'ful sight uv freedom," said Long Jim.
"When he told them to stop they took away their balls and chain," said
Henry, "and sent me back here.
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