gives us the song; an' when the entire congregation draws kyards on
the last verse it does everybody good.

"'Far away from his dear old Texas,
We laid him down to rest;
With his saddle for a pillow,
And his gun across his breast.'

"Then Peets gets out the Scriptures. 'I'm goin' to read a chapter
outen these yere Testaments,' he says. 'I ain't makin' no claim for
it, except it's part of the game an' accordin' to Hoyle. If thar's a
preacher yere he'd do it, but bein' thar's no sech brand on this
range I makes it as a forced play myse'f.'

"So he reads us, a chapter about the sepulcher, an' Mary Magdalene,
an' the resurrection; an' everybody takes it in profound as prairie-
dogs, for that's the lead to make, an' we knows it.

"Then Peets allows he'd like to hear from any gent onder the head of
'good of the order.'

"'Mister Ondertaker an' Chairman,' says Jim Hamilton, 'I yields to
an inward impulse to say that this yere play weighs on me plumb
heavy. As keeper of the dance-hall I sees a heap of the corpse an'
knows him well. Mister King is my friend, an' while his moods is
variable an' oncertain; an' it's cl'arly worth while to wear your
gun while he's hoverin' near, I loves him. He has his weaknesses, as
do we all. A disp'sition to make new rooles as he plays along for
sech games of chance as enjoys his notice is perhaps his greatest
failin'. His givin' way to this habit is primar'ly the cause of his