k, same as a pa'r of angels.
"Troo, Annalinda does domineer over little Enright Peets, an' makes
him fetch an' carry an' wait on her; an' thar's times, too, when she
shore beats him up with a stick or quirt some lib'ral. But what else
would you expect? I even encounters little Enright Peets, down on
all-fours, an' Annalinda ridin' him like he's a hoss. Likewise, she's
kickin' his ribs a heap, to make him go faster. But that's nothin';
them two babies is only playin'.
"Not that I'm none so shore it ain't this yere last identical
spectacle which gives Nell the notion of them two children marryin' at
some footure day. That, however, is merest surmise, an' in a manner
onimportant. What I'd like to get proned into you-all is that Texas
an' Tutt lockin' horns like they does has its single cause in them
latent jealousies an' struggles for social preecedence, which is bound
to occur between a only father an' a only uncle wharever found. Which
the single safegyard lies in sech a multitoode of fathers an' uncles
as renders 'em common. To possess but one of each makes 'em puffed up
an' pride-blown, an' engenders a mootual uppishness which before all
is over is shore to man'fest itse'f in war.
"Thar's one boast we-all is able to make, however. That clash between
Tutt an' Texas is the only shore-enough trouble which ever breaks out
among the boys. You onderstands, of course, that when I says 'boys'
that a-way, I alloodes to Enright an' Peets an' them others who
constitootes Wolfville's social an' commercial backbone. Thar's other
embroglios more or less smoky an' permiscus, which gets pulled off one
way an' another, but they ain't held to apply to us of rights. For
sech alien hookups, so to speak, we reefooses all reespons'bility.
Which we regyards them escapades as fortooitous, an' declines 'em
utter. Tutt's goin' against Texas is the only war-jig we feels to be
reely Wolfville's."
"You forget," I said teasingly, "the shooting between Boggs and Tutt,
as incident to the Washerwoman's War."
"Which, that?" There was impatience tinged with acrimony in the tones.
"That's nothin' more'n gallantry. It's what's to be looked for whar
thar's ladies about, an' is doo to a over-effervescence of sperit,
common to the younger males of our species when made gala an' giddy by
the alloorin' flutter of a petticoat. Boggs an' Tutt don't honestly
mean them bullets none. Also, if you-all is goin' to keep on with your
imbecile interruptions,
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