Part 27 (1/2)
”_That's tough!_” we hollers, loud enough to lift the shakes.
”He lost of his ticket, says, 'Divvil the worse', How's that?”
”_That's tough!_”
Mister Boston stopped byside the door. The sheriff goes on----
”Aw, Pat fer his s.h.i.+rt, he begged hard and plead, But, 'No tickee, no washee', the Chinaman said.
Now Paddy's in jail, and the Chinaman's dead!
How's that?”
”_That's tough!_”
It brung him. He looked in, kinda edged through the door, took a bench, and _sur_veyed them shaps, and them guns till his eyes plumb _pro_truded.
”Rippin'!” I heerd him say.
”'That's tough,'” repeats Monkey Mike, winkin' to the boys. ”Wal, I should _re_mark it was!--to go t' jail just fer pluggin' a c.h.i.n.k.
Irish must 'a' felt like two-bits.”
Boston lent over towards me. ”What's two bits?” he ast.
”What's two bits,” says Rawson. ”Don't you know? Wal, _one_ bit is what you can take outen the other feller's hide at one mouthful. _Two_ bits, a-course, is two of 'em.”
”And,” says that college feller from the Lazy X, ”go fer the cheek allus--the best eatin'.” (He was smart, all right.)
”Not a Chinaman's cheek--too tough,” says the sheriff.
Boston begun to kinda talk to hisself. ”Horrible!” he says. ”Shy Locks, by Heaven!” Then to me again, speakin' low and pointin' at the sheriff, ”Mister Lloyd, what kind of a fambly did that man come from?”
”Don't know a hull lot about him,” I answers, ”but his mother was a squaw, and his father was found on a doorstep.”
”A _squaw,_” he says. ”That accounts fer it.” And he begun to watch the sheriff clost.
”Gents, what you want fer you' supper?” ast the Arnaz boy, comin'
our _di_rection.
”I feel awful caved in,” answers Buckshot. ”I'll take a dozen aigs.”
”How'll you have 'em?”
”Boil 'em hard, so's I can hole 'em in my fingers. And say, cool 'em off 'fore you dish 'em up. I got blistered _bad_ the last time I et aigs.”
”Rawson, what'll _you_ have?”
Rawson, he kinda c.o.c.ked one ear. ”Wal,” he says, easy like, ”give me rattlesnake on toast.”
n.o.body cheeped fer a minute, 'cause the boys was stumped fer somethin'
to go on with. But just as I was gittin' nervous that the conversation was peterin' out, Boston speaks up.