Suddenly, his countenance underwent another striking transformation, his sombre expression turning into one of fierce resolution. “But you’ve plumb missed the mark if you reckon that’s the only reason I’m set on runnin the varmint to ground,” he asserted. “You seed with your own two eyes what he done to that poor ol’ widder-lady. Why, it’s enough to make a mans bristles stand up stiff as the thorns on a honey-locust tree. If you reckon I’m about to set still and not stir a finger while that unhuman devils on the loose—well then, Cricket, all’s I can say is, you have sadly mis-judged Davy Crockett’s character!”

Much to my astonishment, I found myself reacting with a real, if somewhat grudging, respect to this impassioned declaration. While not entirely dispelling my doubts as to the purity of Crockett’s motives, such spirited words could not help but strike a responsive chord within the breast of any but the most hopelessly phlegmatic male. As Crockett had correctly observed, I had indeed been witness to the full horrors of the atrocity. They had inflamed within my bosom, no less than in his, a fervent desire to see the perpetrator brought to justice. To assist in that enterprise would be a source of the most profound personal satisfaction.

Moreover, by accepting his proposal, I would be able to show the cocksure frontiersman, once and for all, that—owing to the inherent superiority of intellect over brawn—the man of exceptional mental capacities will always perform at a higher level of distinction than one endowed with mere physical prowess. I hasten to add that feelings of mere personal rivalry with Crockett played no part in my calculations—such petty emotions being wholly alien to my character.

“Well, Cricket, what d’ye say?” urged Crockett as I continued to deliberate on the matter.

Straightening up in my chair, I regarded the frontiersman with a look of the most solemn and purposeful intensity. “Colonel Crodkett,” I declared, “having given your proposition the careful consideration it so manifestly deserves, I have reached the conclusion that it is, indeed, my sacred duty—as a man no less than a citizen—to assist, in whatever way possible, in the resolution of this dreadful mystery. As a result, I have decided to respond in the affirmative.”

Raising one hand to the level of his shoulder, the irrepressible frontiersman let out a delighted whoop and delivered a resounding slap to his right knee. “By jings, Cricket, them’s the very words I was hopin’ to hear! Why, you ’n’ me’ll capture that pestiferous varmint afore you can say ‘Jack Robinson’!”