along the aige of the bed, aimin' to keep 'way from the old man,
who's snorln' an' thrashin' 'round an' takin' on over in the middle.

"I don't recall much of nothin' ontil I comes to, a-holdin' to the
old man's y'ear with one hand an' a-hammerin' of his features with
t'other. I don't know yet, why. I s'pose I'm locoed an' dreamin', an
allows he's a b'ar or somethin' in my sleep that a-way, an' tries to
kill him. "Son, it's 'way back a long time, but I shudders yet when
I reflects on that old man's language. I jumps up when I realizes
things, grabs my raiment, an', gettin' my hoss outen the corral,
goes p'intin' down the pike more'n a mile 'fore I even stops to
dress. The last I sees of the old man lie's buckin' an' pitchin' an'
tossin', an' the females a-holdin' of him, an' he reachin' to get a
Hawkins's rifle as hangs over the door. I never goes back no more,
'cause he's mighty tindictive about it. He tries to make it a
grandjury matter next co't-time.

"Speakin' of nuptials, however, you can't tell much about women.
Thar's a girl who shorely s'prises us once in a way out in
Wolfville. Missis Rucker, who runs the O. K. Restauraw, gets this
female from Tucson to fry flap-jacks an' salt hoss, an' he'p her
deal her little gastronomic game. This yere girl's name is Jennie-
Tucson Jennie. She looks like she's a nice, good girl, too; one of
them which it's easy to love, an' in less'n two weeks thar's half
the camp gets smitten. "It affects business, it's that bad. Cherokee
Hall tells me thar ain't half the money gets changed in at faro as
usual, an' the New York Store reports gents goin' broke ag'in biled
shirts, an' sim'lar deadfalls daily. Of course this yere first
frenzy subsides a whole lot after a month. "All this time Jennie
ain't sayin' a word. She jest shoves them foolish yooths their