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Yeh know Tom Jamison, he lives next door t me up home. Hes a nice feller, he is, an we was allus good friends. Smart, too. Smart as a steel trap. Well, when we was a-fightin this atternoon, all-of-a- sudden he begin t rip up an cuss an beller at me. Yer shot, yeh blamed infernal!he swear horriblehe ses t me. I put up m hand t m head an when I looked at m fingers, I seen, sure nough, I was shot. I give a holler an begin t run, but bfore I could git away another one hit me in th arm an whirl me clean round. I got skeared when they was all a-shootin bhind me an I run t beat all, but I cotch it pretty bad. Ive an idee Id a been fightin yit, if twasnt fer Tom Jamison. Then he made a calm announcement: Theres two of emlittle onesbut theyre beginnin t have fun with me now. I dont blieve I kin walk much furder. They went slowly on in silence. Yeh look pretty peek-ed yerself, said the tattered man at last. I bet yehve got a worser one than yeh think. Yed better take keer of yer hurt. It dont do t let sech things go. It might be inside mostly, an them plays thunder. Where is it located? But he continued his harangue without waiting for a reply. I see a feller git hit plum in th head when my regment was a-standin at ease onct. An everybody yelled out to im: Hurt, John? Are yeh hurt much? No, ses he. He looked kinder surprised, an he went on tellin em how he felt. He sed he didnt feel nothin. But, by dad, th first thing that feller knowed he was dead. Yes, he was deadstone dead. So, yeh wanta watch out. Yeh might have some queer kind a hurt yerself. Yeh cant never tell. Where is yourn located? The youth had been wriggling since the introduction of this topic. He now gave a cry of exasperation and made a furious motion with his hand. Oh, dont bother me! he said. He was enraged against the tattered man, and could have strangled him. His companions seemed ever to play intolerable parts. They were ever upraising the ghost of shame on the stick of their curiosity. He turned toward the tattered man as one at bay. Now, dont bother me, he repeated with desperate menace. Well, Lord knows I dont wanta bother anybody, said the other. There was a little accent of despair in his voice as he replied, Lord knows Ive gota nough m own t tend to. The youth, who had been holding a bitter debate with himself and casting glances of hatred and contempt at the tattered man, here spoke in a hard voice. Good-by, he said. The tattered man looked at him in gaping amazement. Whywhy, pardner, where yeh goin? he asked unsteadily. The youth looking at him, could see that he, too, like that other one, was beginning to act dumb and animal-like. His thoughts seemed to be floundering about in his head. Nownowlookahere, you Tom JamisonnowI wont have thisthis here wont do. Wherewhere yeh goin? The youth pointed vaguely. Over there, he replied. Well, now lookaherenow, said the tattered man, rambling on in idiot fashion. His head was hanging forward and his words were slurred. This thing wont do, now, Tom Jamison. It wont do. I know yeh, yeh pig-headed devil. Yeh wanta go trompin off with a bad hurt. It aint rightnowTom Jamisonit aint. Yeh wanta leave me take keer of yeh, Tom Jamison. It aintrightit aintfer yeh t gotrompin offwith a bad hurtit aintaintaint rightit aint. In reply the youth climbed a fence and started away. He could hear the tattered man bleating plaintively. Once he faced about angrily. What? Lookahere, now, Tom Jamisonnowit aint The youth went on. Turning at a distance he saw the tattered man wandering about helplessly in the field. |
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