Part 22 (2/2)
The average man's a coward In the North he lets anybody walk over hioes home and prays for a humble spirit to bear it
In the South one e full of men in the daytime, and robbed the lot Your newspapers call you a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other people?whereas you're just _as_ brave, and no braver Why don't your juries hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them in the back, in the dark?and it's just what they _would_ do
”So they always acquit; and then a _ht, with a hundred masked cowards at his back and lynches the rascal Youra man with you; that's one mistake, and the other is that you didn't coht _part_ of a man?Buck Harkness, there?and if you hadn't had hi
”You didn't want to coer _You_ don't like trouble and danger But if only _half_ a man?like Buck Harkness, there?shouts 'Lynch him! lynch him!' you're afraid to back down?afraid you'll be found out to be what you are?_cowards_?and so you raise a yell, and hang yourselves on to that half-a- things you're going to do The pitifulest thing out is a ht with courage that's born in thee that's borrowed from their mass, and from their officers But a mob without any _ for _you_ to do is to droop your tails and go ho to be done it will be done in the dark, Southern fashi+on; and when they co Now _leave_?and take your half-a-un up across his left ar it when he says this
The croashed back sudden, and then broke all apart, and went tearing off every which way, and Buck Harkness he heeled it after the tolerable cheap I could a stayed if I wanted to, but I didn't want to
I went to the circus and loafed around the back side till the watchman went by, and then dived in under the tent I had old piece and some other money, but I reckoned I better save it, because there ain't no telling how soon you are going to need it, away froers that way You can't be too careful I ain't opposed to spending money on circuses when there ain't no other way, but there ain't no use in _wasting_ it on them
It was a real bully circus It was the splendidest sight that ever hen they all coentleman and lady, side by side, the men just in their drawers and undershi+rts, and no shoes nor stirrups, and resting their hands on their thighs easy and comfortable?there must a been twenty of them?and every lady with a lovely coang of real sure-enough queens, and dressed in clothes that cost millions of dollars, and just littered with dia so lovely And then one by one they got up and stood, and went a-weaving around the ring so gentle and wavy and graceful, the ht, with their heads bobbing and ski, away up there under the tent-roof, and every lady's rose-leafy dress flapping soft and silky around her hips, and she looking like the most loveliest parasol
And then faster and faster they went, all of the, first one foot out in the air and then the other, the horses leaninground and round the center-pole, cracking his whip and shouting ”Hi!?hi!” and the clown cracking jokes behind him; and by and by all hands dropped the reins, and every lady put her knuckles on her hips and every gentleman folded his arms, and then how the horses did lean over and hump themselves! And so one after the other they all skipped off into the ring, and made the sweetest bow I ever see, and then scampered out, and everybody clapped their hands and went just about wild
Well, all through the circus they done the s; and all the time that clown carried on so it master couldn't ever say a word to him but he was back at his a body ever said; and how he ever _could_ think of so many of them, and so sudden and so pat, hat I couldn't noway understand Why, I couldn't a thought of theet into the ring?said he wanted to ride; said he could ride as well as anybody that ever was They argued and tried to keep him out, but he wouldn't listen, and the whole show coun to holler at hiun to rip and tear; so that stirred up the people, and a lot of un to pile down off of the benches and swar, ”Knock hiun to screamaster he made a little speech, and said he hoped there wouldn't be no disturbance, and if the man would promise he wouldn't ht he could stay on the horse
So everybody laughed and said all right, and the un to rip and tear and ju on to his bridle trying to hold hi on to his neck, and his heels flying in the air every ju and laughing till tears rolled down And at last, sure enough, all the circus men could do, the horse broke loose, and away he went like the very nation, round and round the ring, with that sot laying down on hi round on one side, and then t'other one on t'other side, and the people just crazy It warn't funny to er
But pretty soon he struggled up astraddle and grabbed the bridle, a-reeling this way and that; and the nextup and dropped the bridle and stood! and the horse a-going like a house afire too He just stood up there, a-sailing around as easy and comfortable as if he warn't ever drunk in his life?and then he begun to pull off his clothes and sling theed up the air, and altogether he shed seventeen suits And, then, there he was, sliaudiest and prettiest you ever saw, and he lit into that horse with his whip and made him fairly hum?and finally skipped off, and -roo with pleasure and astonishmaster he see how he had been fooled, and he _was_ the sickest ringmaster you ever see, I reckon Why, it was one of his own ot up that joke all out of his own head, and never let on to nobody Well, I felt sheepish enough to be took in so, but I wouldn't a been in that ringmaster's place, not for a thousand dollars I don't know; there may be bullier circuses than what that one was, but I never struck theh for _me_; and wherever I run across it, it can have all of _ht we had _our_ show; but there warn't only about twelve people there?just enough to pay expenses And they laughed all the time, and that made the duke mad; and everybody left, anyway, before the shoas over, but one boy which was asleep So the duke said these Arkansaw lunkheads couldn't come up to Shakespeare; what they wanted was low co ruther worse than low comedy, he reckoned He said he could size their style So nextpaper and some black paint, and drawed off soe The bills said:
CHAPTER XXIII
WELL, all day hie and a curtain and a row of candles for footlights; and that night the house was jam full of men in no time When the place couldn't hold nodoor and went around the back way and coe and stood up before the curtain and edy, and said it was the ing about the tragedy, and about Edmund Kean the Elder, which was to play the ot everybody's expectations up high enough, he rolled up the curtain, and the nextout on all fours, naked; and he was painted all over, ring-streaked-and-striped, all sorts of colors, as splendid as a rainbow And?but never mind the rest of his outfit; it was just wild, but it ful funny The people ot done capering and capered off behind the scenes, they roared and clapped and storain, and after that they h to see the shi+nes that old idiot cut
Then the duke he lets the curtain down, and bows to the people, and says the great tragedy will be perforements, where the seats is all sold already for it in Drury Lane; and then he makes the theed if they will et thes out:
”What, is it over? Is that _all_?”
The duke says yes Then there was a fine tioing for that stage and the man juentlehty badly sold But we don't want to be the laughing stock of this whole town, I reckon, and never hear the last of this thing as long as we live _No_ What ant is to go out of here quiet, and talk this show up, and sell the _rest_ of the town! Then we'll all be in the sae is right!”
everybody sings out) ”All right, then?not a word about any sell Go along hoedy”
Next day you couldn't hear nothing around that town but how splendid that shoas House was jaht, and we sold this crowd the saot home to the raft we all had a supper; and by and by, about ht, they made Jim and me back her out and float her down the middle of the river, and fetch her in and hide her about two ht the house was craain?and they warn't new-comers this tihts I stood by the duke at the door, and I see that everymuffled up under his coat?and I see it warn't no perfus by the barrel, and rotten cabbages, and such things; and if I know the signs of a dead cat being around, and I bet I do, there was sixty-four of them went in I shoved in there for a minute, but it was too various for me; I couldn't stand it Well, when the place couldn't hold no ive a fellow a quarter and told him to tend door for hie door, I after him; but the minute we turned the corner and was in the dark he says:
”Walk fast now till you get away from the houses, and then shi+n for the raft like the dickens was after you!”
I done it, and he done the same We struck the raft at the sa down strea towards thea word I reckoned the poor king was in for a gaudy ti of the sort; pretty soon he crawls out frowa pan out this time, duke?” He hadn't been up-town at all