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Come here, feller," called the colonel; "be kinder sociable don't stand there a gawpin' at us ez ef we wuz a menagerie." The youth approached slowly, stared through the crowd, and finally asked: "Is there any one here from Pawkin Centre?" No one responded. "Some men went out to Californy from Pawkin Centre, and I didn't know but some of 'em was here.
He had wrap' de chain roun' wid a rag, so it did n' hurt his neck; but w'eneber he went ter wuk, dat ham would be in his way; he had ter do his task, howsomedever, des de same ez ef he did n' hab de ham. W'eneber he went ter lay down, dat ham would be in de way. Ef he turn ober in his sleep, dat ham would be tuggin' at his neck.
"You're right," said Tom Ross, "an' ef I ain't mistook that man an' that canoe are in trouble. Half the time he's paddlin', half the time he's bailin' her out, an' all the time he's making a desperate effort to git to land." The others were now up and awake, and they gazed with intense interest. "It's a white man in the canoe ez shore ez I'm a livin' sinner!" exclaimed Shif'less Sol.
"When Jim Byways left me this yer property," she began, looking cautiously around, "he left it to me on CONDITIONS; not conditions ez waz in his WRITTEN will, but conditions ez waz SPOKEN. A promise I made him in this very room, Mr. Hamlin, this very room, and on that very bed you're sittin' on, in which he died." Like most gamblers, Mr. Hamlin was superstitious.
"I've been a-dyin' to do it ever since you come. I've told him about it, and he's ez glad fur you ez I am." "Oh!" said the captain, looking a little confused, "you suspected it, did you?" "From the very minute you fust kem," replied Mrs. Simmons; "I know the signs." "Well," said the captain, "might ez well see him fust as last then, I reckon." "I'll get ready right away," said Mrs. Simmons.
"I didn't know ez I was called upon to give the pedigree o' buyers," said the drover dryly; "but the horses is 'Morgan, you can bet your life." He grinned as he rode away. That Captain Jack sent them, and that it was a natural prelude to his again visiting him, Morse did not doubt, and for a few days he lived in that dream. But Captain Jack did not come.
When Shif'less Sol learned that the fort was to be given up, he said: "It looks ez ef we had escaped from the Iroquois jest in time to beg 'em to take us back." "I reckon I ain't goin' to stay 'roun' here while things are bein' surrendered," said Long Jim Hart.
"Wa'al," resumed Peters, nowise loath to return to the gossip, "Tobe, ye see, air the ranger o' this hyar county, an' by law all the stray horses ez air tuk up by folks hev ter be reported ter him, an' appraised by two householders, an' swore to afore the magistrate an' be advertised by the ranger, an' ef they ain't claimed 'fore twelve months, the taker-up kin pay into the county treasury one-haffen the appraisement an' hev the critter fur his'n.
You ain't asked to talk more'n you've a mind to aboard the We're Here. Keep your eyes open, an' help Dan to do ez he's bid, an' sechlike, an' I'll give you you ain't wuth it, but I'll give ten an' a ha'af a month; say thirty-five at the end o' the trip. A little work will ease up your head, and you kin tell us all abaout your dad an' your ma an' your money afterwards."
It looks to me ez if they wuz goin' to drift back down the trail." "You judge right, Tom. There they go. I wish I could read the expression on their faces. They must be wild with rage. They're moving a little faster now, and the sooner they disappear from my sight the better." He handed the glasses to the Little Giant, who, after taking a look, passed them to Boyd.
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