Which they lives irreg'lar, an' they're doo to die irreg'lar,
an' if they can't be admitted to the promised land irreg'lar,
they're shore destined to pitch camp outside. An' inasmuch as I
onderstands them aforetime comrades of mine, an' saveys an' esteems
their ways, why, I reckons I'll string my game with theirs a whole
lot, an' get in or get barred with Wolfville.
"No; I've no notion at all ag'inst a gospel spreader. When Short
Creek Dave gets religion over in Tucson, an' descends on us as a
exhorter, although I only knows Short Creek thartofore as the
coldest poker sharp that ever catches a gent Muffin' on a 4-flush, I
hesitates not, but encourages an' caps his game. But I can't say
that the sight of a preacher-gent affords me peace. A preacher frets
me; not for himse'f exactly, but you never sees preachers without
seein' p'lice folks--preachers an' p'lice go hand in hand, like
prairie dogs an' rattlesnakes--an' born as I be in Tennessee, where
we has our feuds an' where law is a interference an' never a
protection, I'm nacherally loathin' constables complete.
"But if I ain't religious," he rambled on while he puffed at his
Bull Durham vigorously. "you can resk a small stack that neither I
ain't sooperstitious.
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