"For
which causes, bein' plumb tender an' sympathetic, I'm shore no good
with kyards; an' whenever I dallies tharwith, it is onder the head
of amoosements. "Do I regyard gamblin' as immoral? No; I don't
reckon none now I do. This bein' what you--all church sharps calls
moral is somewhat a matter of health, an' likewise the way you
feels. Sick folks usual is a heap more moral than when their
health's that excellent it's tantalizin'. "Speakin' of morals, I
recalls people who would scorn kyards, but who'd admire to buy a
widow's steers for four dollars an' saw 'em off ag'in for forty.
They'd take four hundred dollars if some party, locoed to a degree
which permits said outrage, would turn up. The right or wrong, what
you calls the morality of gatherin' steers for four dollars an'
plunderin' people with 'em at forty dollars, wouldn't bother 'em a
bit. Which the question with these yere wolves is simply: 'How
little can I pay an' how much can I get?' An' yet, as I says, sech
parties mighty likely holds themse'fs moral to a degree which is
mountainous, an' wouldn't take a twist at faro-bank, or pick up a
poker hand, more'n they'd mingle with t'rant'lers an' stingin'
lizards. An' some of their moral sports is so onlib'ral! I tells
you, son, I've met up with 'em who's that stingy that if they owned
a lake, they wouldn't give a duck a drink.
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