'Where's all your howls?'
"Texas arises from where he's settin' with his face in his hands,
an' wipin' the emotion outen his eyes, softly an' reverentially
beats his gun over this yere party's head; whereupon he c'llapses
into the corner till called for. Then we-all sets down silent an'
sympathetic ag'in.
"It's the next day when Whiskey Billy takes his last ride over to
Tucson on a buckboard. A dozen of us goes along, makin' good them
bluffs about Billy's worth; Enright an' Peets is in the stage with
the old mother, an' the rest of us on our ponies as a bodygyard of
honor.
"'An' it is well, marm,' says Enright, as we-all shakes hands, as
Billy an' his mother is about to leave Tucson, an' we stands b'ar-
headed to say adios; 'an' death quits loser half its gloom when one
reflects that while Willyum dies, he leaves the world an' all of us
better for them examples he exerts among us. Willyum may die, but
his mem'ry will live long to lead an' guide us.'
"I could see the old mother's eyes shine with pride through her
tears when Enright says this; an' as she comes 'round an' shakes an'
thanks us all speshul, I'm shorely proud of Wolfville's chief. So is
everybody, I reckons; for when we're about a mile out on the trail
back, an' all ridin' silent an' quiet, Texas ups an' shakes Enright
by the hand a heap sudden, an' says:
"'Sam Enright, I ain't reported as none emotional, but I'm yours to
command from now till death, an' yere's the hand an' word of Texas
Thompson on it.
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