Now Lige is saying: 'Gabe, I ain't going to lie to you; you know me, and you know I've made mistakes--but they were errors of judgment, and I want to get a chance to live 'em down.

I want to show the young men of this state that Lige Bemis of the Red Legs is a man--even if he was wild as a young fellow; it'll prove that a man can rise.' Poor old Gabe--Lige has got him by the coat front, now.

That's the third degree.

When he gets him by the neck and begins to whisper, he's giving him the work in the uniform rank.

He's saying: 'Gabe, I've got to have you with me.
I can't win without you, and I would rather lose than win with you against me.