dooty while the subscription-paper goes 'round.'

"The biddin' is mighty lively, an' in ten minutes seven hundred
dollars is raised for a dowry. Then French, who has been settin' in
a sort of daze, gets up:

"'Mister Enright an' gents,' he says, `this yere is a s'prise-party
to me, but it goes. It's a hoss on me, but I stands it. I sees how
it is, an' as a forced play I marries Benson Annie in the interests
of peace. Which the same bein' settled, if Benson Annie is yere,
whirl her up an' I'll come flutterin' from my perch like a pan of
milk from a top shelf, an' put an end to this onhealthful
excitement.

"We-alls applauds French an' is proud to note he's game.

"`An' to be free an' open with you, French,' says Texas Thompson, so
as to make him feel he's ahead on the deal; which he shore is, for
this yere Benson Annie is corn-fed, 'if it ain't for a high-sperited
lady back in Laredo who relies on me, I'd be playin' your hand
myse'f.'

"Well, no one delays the game. Enright brings over Benson Annie,
who's blushin' some, but ain't holdin' back; an' she an' French
fronts up for business. This yere preacher-sharp Enright's roped up
is jest shufflin' for the deal, when, whatever do you reckon takes
place? I'm a Mexican if this yere Sal don't come wanderin' in, a-
cryin' an' a-mournin' powerful. She allows with sobs if her dear
friend Annie's goin' to get married she wants in on the game as
bridesmaid.