Yes Sir! Brother Bill knew that while Ike was mighty tough and a dangerous man, he wasn't all iron. So when I told him that Ike was bound to kill Becker for "messing him up" in the store, Bill spoke up and said: "Don't worry, there are few fellows Ike won't bother and Gus is one of them. What did Becker do to Ike in the store?
"I thought you had heard about that." I said.
Ike was naturally mean. So when a woman came into the store, (Ike having come in a few minutes before a cussing and rowing with everyone in there) (there were a couple of other fellows in there besides myself and Gus, none of them caring to call him and stir up a rumpus, so we let him alone; especially since he had his two pistols holstered on and was known to be quick on the draw).
Ike looked at the fireplace stove which had a grating on hinges in the front of it and asked the gang, "Did ya ever see a monkey in a cage?" Suiting the words and action together, he grabbed a little boy which had come in with its mother, away from her, opened the grating of the cold stove and put the kid in behind the bars.
Tickled with his bright idea, he laughed and said; "There ya are fellows!"
That was too much for Gus. He jumped over the counter and before Ike knew what was happening, caught him with a jab under the jaw with his fist which laid him cold. He then took Ike's two guns and stuck them in the front top of his own pants. He backed up to the fallen Ike, grabbed Ike's feet up, holding them under his arms and trotted out of the front door and down the steps, Ike's head hitting the steps and all of the bumps as he dragged him out to the hitching post where he left him with his horse. When Ike came to, about fifteen minutes later, he rubbed his eyes, looked around, felt for his pistols and not finding them, got on his horse and away he rode.
We told Gus "Ike's gonna get you for that." But Gus merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. Gus never seemed to worry or think of it anymore, and brother Bill said; "Ike knows that if he hurt Becker, all of the other outlaws and the whites would clean him out in no time." So Ike never said anything either when someone joshed him about it sometime later.
"Did Ike ever go back to the store?" Sure thing! About three weeks later brother George happened to be in the store when Ike rode up. He got off his horse and walked in, one pistol on. Gus watched him come in, studying him carefully, and the following interesting happened.
"Ike," he said, "some time ago you were here and left some of your pistols with us." He walked over to the back counter and picked up the two pistols by the barrels and took them to Ike, handles forward, with the remark, "Here they are and they are still loaded." Ike held the two pistols in his hands a minute, looked at Gus in apparent disbelief that any man could be such a damn fool, turned, walked out to his horse and rode away.