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LAFAYETTE
Oh, Colonel Sellers, [something's] wrong in the Columbia River enterprise, old friend, or you wouldn't wander so far away from Hawkeye.
SELLERS
(Holding LAFAYETTE'S hand and beaming.)Lafayette, I've founhic I've founhic
(Pauses, summons all his faculties
and gets on a good ready.)I've founhic
(Breaks into benevolent smiles.)
How's Laura?
LAFAYETTE
Laura's well, pretty busy, but in good spirits. How are things at Napoleon?
SELLERS
Napoleon's there, the river's there, but the boys wanted to hang me!
LAFAYETTE
Hang you, Colonel? Why, what have you done?
SELLERS
Nothing, that's what they wanted to hang me for. They wanted to hang me because I couldn't pay them. I couldn't pay them because the President of the Company wouldn't honor my draft. Now, if they had wanted to hang him, it would have met with my entire approbation, but when they wanted to make it a personal matter, I took a change of venue.
LAFAYETTE
You ran away?
SELLERS
(Emphatically.)No sir, I rode away. There was two hundred rough looking men there and I don't want to hurt any man, [so as] my horse was nearby and it wasn't far to the depot, [I took the train] and I'mhichere.
LAFAYETTE
Good, you've come just in the nick of time. I'm to have an interview with the President of the Company this afternoon, and I'll make him disgorge.


