He says ter hisself--"
"What bosh!" exclaimed Ben, snorting in his sleep.
"Aire you addressin' yer remarks ter me?" asked Bud, looking over the
back of the seat at Bud. But the only answer was a gentle snore.
"What did he say?" asked Dick eagerly.
"'Why,' says he, 'if they won't let me talk they can't keep me from
bein' ez near a man ez I kin go; by gravy, I'll raise whiskers like
Deacon Smith,' who was a member o' ther lodge in which ther goat
officiated; and, by jinks, he did, an' ther fashion wuz follered, an'
they wear them ter this day.
"There ain't no question o' their smartness, an' their prominence. Ain't
one o' ther signs o' the zodiac up in ther heavens named after ther
goat--Capricornus is ther feller ter what I refer--an' them heathen
chaps what wuz half man an' half goat? Didn't they come pretty near
bein' ther whole thing?"
"But about the Pecos?" inquired Dick, who was not partial to preaching,
but wanted to get at the heart of the story.
"Oh. yes. I wuz leadin' up ter it gradooal, fer what I'm goin' ter
relate--if thet yap will choke off on thet moosical snore--"
"Here, wake up, you're snoring so loud we can't hear ourselves holler,"
said Kit, reaching over and shaking Ben.
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