e honest, well meanin', even
gen'rous; an' yet thar they be, upholstered by nacher in some occult
way with about the same chance of bein' pop'lar as a wet dog. Speakin'
for myse'f, I feels sorry for these yere onforchoonate mavericks,
condemned as they be at birth to go pirootin' from the cradle to the
grave, meetin' everywhar about the same welcome which awaits a polecat
at a picnic.

"Thar's no predom'natin' element of evil in this Turner person. Which
in his case the trouble swings an' rattles on the way he's built. His
crownin' deefect, mighty likely, is that he's got one of them sidehill
minds, an' what idees he does evolve can't find no foothold, but is
robbed at the start of everything reesemblin' perm'nancy. I watches
his comin's in an' goin's out for months on eend, an' I'm yere to
say--at the same time ascribin' to him no ill intentions--that onder
all condition an' on all o'casions he's as onreli'ble as a woman's
watch.

"About that weddin' he goes east to consummate?

"Which it looks like, speakin' mod'rate, he quits winner. He travels
back to Sni-a-bar as tame as tabby cats in persooance with Enright's
commands, an', once thar, old man Parks an' the rest of 'em whistles
him through the marital chute a heap successful. When he shows up
among us, his blushin' Peggy bride on his arm, he's wearin' all the
brands an' y'ear marks of a thor'ughly married man; to sech degrees,
indeed, as renders Texas oncomfortable.

"'It recalls,' says Texas, 'them honeymoon days I passed with my
Laredo wife before she wins out that divorce. It's like a icicle
through my heart to look at him,' he goes on, aloodin' to the Turner
person an' the fatyoous fog of deelight he's evident in. 'Thar he is,
like a cub b'ar, his troubles all before him, an' not brains enough
onder his skelp-lock to a'preeciate his awful p'sition.'

"'Why, Texas,' remonstrates Nell as, the turn comin' trey-nine, she
picks a stack of bloos off the trey an' puts it in the check rack,
'you talks of wedlock as though that sacriment's a brace. Plenty of
folks has beat the game. Thar's Tutt an' Tucson Jennie.'

"'Them nuptials of Dave's an' Jennie's, Nell,' returns Texas, shakin'
his head a heap gloomy, 'ain't far enough to the r'ar to afford a
preecedent. Wait till Dave wakes up.'

"'Till Dave wakes up?' says Boggs, who's busy at the lay-out, an' has
jest planted a stack of reds coppered in the big squar'. 'Sech
pess'mism, Texas, is reedic'lous. Bein' marr