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
he started out to save the world. An'
how they tuk him an' nailed him onto
a cross when he'd come down fer nothin'
but to save 'em; an' stuck a spear big as
a corn-knife into his side, an' give him
vinegar; an' his own mammy a-standin'
down thar on the ground a-cryin' an'
a-watchin' him an' he a-fergivin' all of
'em then an' thar!
Thar nuver had been nothin' like that
afore on Kingdom-Come, an' all along I
heerd fellers a-layin' thar guns down;
an when the preacher called out fer
sinners, blame me ef the fust feller that
riz wasn't Mace Day.
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