"
"I'll give him warning all the same," said Abel savagely, "that if I
ever catch him on my land I'll serve him in the fashion that he served
Archie."
"You don't lose nothin' by goin' slow," returned Solomon. "Old Adam
there is a born fire eater, too, but he knows how to set back when
thar's trouble brewin'."
"I ain't never set back mo' than was respectable in a man of ninety,"
croaked old Adam indignantly, while he prodded the ashes in his corncob
pipe with his stubby forefinger. "'Tis my j'ints, not my sperits that
have grown feeble."
"Oh, we all know that your were a gay dog an' a warnin' to the righteous
when you were young," rejoined Solomon, in an apologetic manner, "an'
it must be a deal of satisfaction to be able to look back on a sinful
past when you've grown old and repented. I've been a pious, God-fearing
soul from my birth, as you all know, friends, but sad to relate, I ain't
found the solid comfort in a life of virtue that I'd hoped for, an'
that's the truth."
"The trouble with it, Solomon," replied old Adam, pushing a log back on
the andirons with his rough, thick soled boot to which shreds of manure
were clinging, "the trouble with it is that good or bad porridge, it all
leaves the same taste in the mouth arter you've once swallowed it.
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