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BUCKSKIN JOE |
17 |
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The dealers stopped their dealing and the players
held their breath; For words like those to Hankey were a sudden flirt
with death.
"Listen, gentle stranger, I'll read my pedigree: I'm known for handling tenderfeet and worser
men than thee; The lions on the mountains I've drove them to
their lairs; The wild-cats are my playmates and I've wrestled
grizzly bears;
"Why, the centipedes can't sorter mar my tough old
hide, And rattlesnakes have bit me and crawled off and
died. I'm as wild as the wildest horse that ever roamed
the range; The moss grows on my teeth and wild blood flows
through my veins.
"I'm wild and woolly and full of fleas,
And never curried below the knees.
Now, little stranger, ifyou'llgiveme your address—
How would you like to go, by fast mail or express? "
The little stranger, who was leaning against the door, Picked up a hand of playing cards that were scatÂtered on the floor. Picking out the five 0' spades,he pinned itto the door, And then stepped backward some twenty steps or more. |
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