PREACHIN' ON KINGDOM-COME


I've told ye, stranger, that Hell fer
Sartain empties, as it oughter, of co'se,
into Kingdom-Come. You can ketch
the devil 'most any day in the week on
Hell fer Sartain, an' sometimes you can
git Glory everlastin' on Kingdom-Come.
Hit's the only meetin'-house thar in
twenty miles aroun'.

Well, the reg'lar rider, ole Jim Skaggs,
was dead, an' the bretherin was a-lookin'
aroun' fer somebody to step into ole
Jim's shoes. Thar'd been one young
feller up thar from the settlemints, a-
cavortin' aroun', an' they was studyin'
'bout gittin' him.

``Bretherin' an' sisteren,'' I says, atter
the leetle chap was gone, ``he's got the
fortitood to speak an' he shorely is well
favored. He's got a mighty good hawk
eye fer spyin' out evil--an' the gals; he
can outholler ole Jim; an' IF,'' I says,
``any IDEES ever comes to him, he'll be