In the bosom of his family he was
freed from those bonds of restraint that embarrassed his utterance
when in more formal society. The amount of profanity that he could
dispose of in the course of an ordinary conversation was little short
of astounding. This being more than an ordinary conversation and his
mood being mellow, called for an extra vocabulary. He graphically set
forth the facts in the case, then gave his imagination full sway in
accounting for them. He interpreted the whole affair as a clash
between capital and labor, a conflict between the pampered aristocrat
and the common man. The shooting was the result of a deep-laid plan:
Dillingham and Morley had met by appointment, moved by what motive he
did not make clear, to kill Sheeley, an honest laboring man. Hadn't
the one on horseback, that they say was Mr. Morley, stopped him at the
crossing, on the very afternoon of the shooting, and engaged him in
conversation? Phineas assured his listeners that he trembled even now
when he thought of the danger he had been in!
"I'd seed him afore that day a ridin' with a pretty young lady, that
most got her neck broke under a engine, but this time he was by
hisself, a settin' there on his horse, as proud as a king and stirrin'
me up about the rich folks not allowing us poor working classes to
have no streets out here.
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