of yours at all. Moreover, I
reckons that before I'm through, seein' now you've got me goin', I'll
prove it. For a starter, then, takin' your say-so for it, you're a
Southern man?'

"'Which that's shore c'rrect,' the other responds, but feeble; 'you
an' me, as I says former, is both Southern men.'

"'_Bueno!_ Now as calk'lated to demonstrate how plumb onfounded is
them theeries of yours'--yere Texas gets up, an' kicks his cha'r back
so he's got room--'I has pleasure in informin' you that you're a
onmitigated hoss-thief;--an' you don't dare stand up. Yes, sir; you're
onfit to drink with a nigger or eat with a dog;--an' you'll set thar
an' take it.'

"Which that aboosive party, pale as paper, certainly does 'set thar
an' take it' preecisely as Texas prophecies; an' after glowerin' at
him, red-eyed an' f'rocious for a moment, Texas sticks his paws in his
jeans, an' sa'nters off.

"It's jest as well. Why, if that humbug so much as curls a lip or
crooks a finger, after Texas takes to enunciatin' them prop'sitions in
philosophy, Texas'd have tacked him to the table with his bowie an'
left him kickin', same as them goggled-eyed professors who calls
themselves nacheralists does some buzzin' fly with a pin.

"'Which, if thar's anything,' Texas explains to Enright, 'that makes
me tired partic'lar, it's them cracks about No'th an' South. If I was
range boss for these yere United States I'd shore have them
deescriptives legislated into a cap'tal offence.'

"'Sech observations as that narrow tarrapin onbosoms,' comments
Enright, 'only goes to show how shallow he is. Comin' down to the
turn, even that old Eastern shorthorn's walkin' away from him don't
necessar'ly mean a lack of sand. Folks does a heap of runnin' in this
vale of tears, but upon various an' varyin' argyooments. A gent runs
from a polecat, an' he runs from a b'ar; but the reason ain't the
same.'

"Thar's no sectionalisms in Tutt's differences with Texas, none
whatever. Also, while it finds, as I holds, its roots in Annalinda an'
little Enright Peets, it don't arise from nothin' which them babies
does to one another. Two pups in the same basket, two birds on the
same bough, couldn't have got along more harmon'ous. The moment Nell
brings little Enright Peets over to see Annalinda them children falls
together like a shock of oats, an' at what times they're onhobbled of
fam'ly reestrictions an' footloose so to do, you'd see 'em playin'
'round from sun-up till dar