Cody finally made the shallow again and stood upon his feet. That was a blessed relief! He was head and shoulders out of the water, and now he took the knife from between his teeth and held it clutched firmly in his right hand. “I’ve got you!” bawled Bennett, fairly dancing up and down on the shore. “Come ashore and I’ll have your scalp! I’ll cut your heart out! I’ll slice you into cat’s meat! And if you don’t come ashore the river will get you. Ha! ha! ha! Bill Cody is between the devil and the deep sea this time!” And the scout thought that this was a pretty true statement of the case. For, if ever there was a fiend incarnate, it was Bennett at this juncture. And the river was as wicked and dangerous as the sea could possibly be. The scout was indeed between two perils--and neither would give him a chance for his life. The moment he waded within striking distance Bennett would attack him. And the river dragged at him continually. But, at least, the scout could parley. He had breath enough to say: “Boyd Bennett, you and I have many an old score to settle. Give me footing on that bank. You have your knife; I have mine. Let us try conclusions fairly.” “What! Give you a chance to play some scurvy trick on me--when I’ve got you dead to rights?” cried Bennett, and laughed long and loudly. Cody edged a step nearer to the shore. “Be a man!” urged the scout. “You’re as good as I am.” “I’m better--curse you!” Cody gained another foot. “Let us try conclusions, blade to blade. Give me a show, man!” “It’s war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt between us--that’s true, Bill Cody!” gritted out the man. “But you shall not be given a chance. I’ll kill you in cold blood--or see you drown in this river. Mark ye that!” Cody crept a few inches nearer. “Come! You are rested. You’ve got your strength back. I’m chilled to the bone. But don’t kill me as you would a dog, Bennett!” urged the wily scout. “A dog you are, and a dog’s death you shall die!” Cody stooped a little now so as to appear still to be in deep water. But he had gained considerable. The fellow’s rage and excitement made him overlook this cunning. “A chance; just a foothold on the bank--for God’s sake!” cried Cody. “Not much; I won’t! You die where you are--or drown!” Boyd Bennett stooped, and holding his own bowie with grim clutch, made a pass at the scout. The latter dodged--and made another foot. “Give me a show!” cried the man in the water, apparently at his last gasp. “No, no! I’ll have your life--and now!”