oat-sleeve.
Ump was as sensitive as any cripple, and he was afraid of no man. To my
astonishment he smiled and waved his hand. "I'm cheek to your jowl,
Parson," he said; "set out the O-be-joyful."

"Hey, Roy!" called Peppers, "bring another pitcher for Humpty Dumpty."
Then he kicked the table with his great cowhide boots and began to
bellow:

"Zaccheus he clum a tree
His Lord an' Master for to see;
The limb did break an' he did fall,
An' he didn't git to see his Lord at all."

Ump and I were seated by the wall, tilted back in the tavern-keeper's
split-bottom chairs, while Jud leaned against the door.

The rhyme set the Parson's head to humming, and he began to pat his leg.
Then he spied Jud. "Hey, there! Beelzebub," he roared, "can you dust the
puncheons?"

"When the devil's a-fiddlin'," said Jud.

"Ho, the devil," hummed the Parson.

"As I set fiddlin' on a tree
The devil shot his gun at me.
He missed my soul an' hit a limb,
An' I don't give a damn for him."

He slapped his leg to emphasise the "damn." At this moment Roy came in
with the two stone pitchers, handed one to Ump and put the other down by
the boisterous Parson.

Peppers turned to him. "Got a fiddle?" he asked.

"I think there's an old stager about," said Roy.

"Bring her in," said Peppers. Then he seized the pitcher by its stone
handle and raised it in the air. "Wine's a mocker," he began, "an'
strong drink is ragin', but old Saint Paul said, 'A little for your
stomach's sake.' Here's lookin' at you, Humpty Dumpty. May you grow
until your ears drag the ground."

The hunchback lifted his pitcher. "Same to you, Parson," he said, "an'
all your family." Then they thrust their noses into the stone pitchers.
Peppers gulped a swallow, then he lowered his pitcher and looked at Ump.

"Humpty Dumpty," he said, speaking slowly and turning down his thumb as
he spoke, "when you git your fall, it'll be another job for them king's
horses."

"Parson," said Ump, "I know how to light."

"How?" said Peppers.

"Easy," said Ump.

Peppers roared. "You ain't learned it any too quick," he said. "What
goes up, has got to come down, an' you're goin' up end over appetite."

"When do I hit the ground, Parson?" asked Ump, with his nose in the
pitcher.

Peppers spread out two of his broad fingers. "To-day is to-day," he
said, "an' to-morrow is to-morrow. Then--" But the cunning Marks was on
his feet before the sentence was fin