"and by your own say-so you done a dern poor job
at it."

"You go to that there circus," says Hank, a-flaring up, "and I'll
lambaste you up to a inch of your life. So fur as handing out money fur
you to sling it to the dogs, I ain't no bank, and if I was I ain't no
ijut. But you jest let me hear of you even going nigh that circus lot
and all the lammings you has ever got, rolled into one, won't be
a measly little sarcumstance to what you WILL get. They ain't no
leather-faced young upstart with weepin'-willow hail going to throw up
to me how I brung him up. That's gratitood fur you, that is!" says Hank.
"If it hadn't of been fur me giving you a home when I found you first,
where would you of been now?"

"Well," I says, "I might of been a good 'eal better off. If you hadn't
of took me in the Alexanderses would of, and then I wouldn't of been
kep' out of school and growed up a ignoramus like you is."

"I never had no trouble keeping you away from school, I notice," says
Hank, with a snort. "This is the first I ever hearn of you wanting to go
there."

Which was true in one way, and a lie in another. I hadn't never wanted
to go till lately, but he'd of lammed me if I had of wanted to. He
always said he would. And now I was too big and knowed it.

Well, Hank, he never give me no money, so I watches my chancet that
afternoon and slips in under the tent the same as always. And I lays low
under them green benches and wiggled through when I seen a good chancet.
The first person I seen was Hank. Of course he seen me, and he shook
his fist at me in a promising kind of way, and they wasn't no trouble
figgering out what he meant. Fur a while I didn't enjoy that circus to
no extent. Fur I was thinking that if Hank tries to lick me fur it I'll
fight him back this time, which I hadn't never fit him back much yet fur
fear he'd pick up something iron around the shop and jest natcherally
lay me cold with it.

I got home before Hank did. It was nigh sundown, and I was waiting in
the door of the shop fur Elmira to holler vittles is ready, and Hank
come along. He didn't waste no time. He steps inside the shop and he
takes down a strap and he says:

"You come here and take off your shirt."

But I jest moves away. Hank, he runs in on me, and he swings his strap.
I throwed up my arm, and it cut me acrost the knuckles. I run in on him,
and he dropped the strap and fetched me an openhanded smack plumb on the
mouth that jarred my head ba