"I came mighty near having a fight while you were in the house," said he.

"It was that boy at the inn.

He's a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully impertinent.

He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the bear had hurt you.

He said he believed you were really afraid of the beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.
"I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith's runaway, and then he said, fair and square, that he didn't believe you stopped the horse.
He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you came along and grabbed him and took all the credit.