to a hoss trade ur a piece o' land. Fer
in the tricks o' sech, ole Tom 'lows--
well, hit's diff'ent; an' I reckon, stranger,
as how hit sorter is. He was a-stayin'
at Tom's house, the furriner was, a-dickerin'
fer a piece o' lan'--the same
piece, mebbe, that you're atter now--
an' Tom keeps him thar fer a week to
beat him out'n a dollar, an' then won't
let him pay nary a cent fer his boa'd.
Now, stranger, that's Tom.

Well, Abe Shivers was a-workin' fer
Tom--you've heerd tell o' Abe--an'
the furriner wasn't more'n half gone
afore Tom seed that Abe was up to
some of his devilMINT. Abe kin hatch
up more devilMINT in a minit than Satan
hisself kin in a week; so Tom jes got
Abe out'n the stable under a hoe-handle,
an' tol' him to tell the whole thing
straight ur he'd have to go to glory
right thar. An' Abe tol'!

'Pears like Abe had foun' a streak o'
iron ore on the lan', an' had racked his
jinny right down to Hazlan an' tol' the
furriner, who was thar a-buyin' wild
lands right an' left. Co'se, Abe was
goin' to make the furriner whack up