That night, stranger, I seed another
feller from Hazlan, who was a-tellin' how
this here preacher had stopped the war
over thar, an' had got the Marcums an'
Braytons to shakin' hands; an' next day
ole Tom Perkins stops in an' says that
WHARAS there mought 'a' been preachin'
somewhar an' sometime, thar nuver had
been PREACHIN' afore on Kingdom-Come.
So I goes over to the meetin' house, an'
they was all thar--Daws Dillon an'
Mace Day, the leaders in the war, an'
Abe Shivers (you've heerd tell o' Abe)
who was a-carryin' tales from one side to
t'other an' a-stirrin' up hell ginerally, as
Abe most al'ays is; an' thar was Daws
on one side o' the meetin'-house an'
Mace on t'other, an' both jes a-watchin'
fer t'other to make a move, an' thar'd
'a' been billy-hell to pay right thar!
Stranger, that long preacher talked jes
as easy as I'm a-talkin' now, an' hit was
p'int-blank as the feller from Hazlan
said. You jes ought 'a' heerd him tellin'
about the Lawd a-bein' as pore as any
feller thar, an' a-makin' barns an' fences
an' ox-yokes an' sech like; an' not
a-bein' able to write his own name--
havin' to make his mark mebbe--when