I'll be back by next
drink time;' an' with that Enright goes surgin' off to locate Jack.
"Cherokee an' me, as might be expected, turns our powers of
conversation loose with this new last eepisode of the trail.
"'An' I'm struck speshul,' says Cherokee, 'about what Enright
observes at the finish, that it's a instance where the more he wins,
the more he loses; an' how this, his best season, is goin' to be his
worst. I has experiences sim'lar myse'f onct. Which the cases is
plumb parallel!
"'This time when my own individooal game strikes somethin' an'
glances off, is 'way back. I gets off a boat on the upper river at a
camp called Rock Island. You never is thar? I don't aim to encourage
you-all ondooly, still your failure to see Rock Island needn't prey
on you as the rooin of your c'reer. I goes ashore as I relates, an'
the first gent I encounters is old Peg-laig Jones. This yere Peg-
laig is a madman to spec'late at kyards, an' the instant he sees me,
he pulls me one side, plenty breathless with a plan he's evolved.
"Son," says this yere Peg-lalg, "how much money has you?"
"'I tells him I ain't over strong; somethin' like two hundred
dollars, mebby.
"'"That's enough," says Peg-lalg.
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