'Hi, Bill!' says my Jasper, 'I'll just bet ye
fifty cents the black hawse dun't win the race--even if I do lose!'
"That's the way it goes right along--the rubes stay away from it. Once
in a while I finds a mark but not often. We win a purse though in
every town 'n' this just about pays expenses. We ain't makin' nothin'
much, but we ain't losin' nothin' neither. We're eatin' regular 'n'
enjoyin' ourselves, except Butsy. _He_ wouldn't enjoy hisself at a dog
fight.
"This Butsy Trimble is a thin solemn gink 'n' he almost never cracks a
smile. He's got it doped out that everybody's agin him. Peewee 'n' me
has knocked around together so much we knows each other's ways, but we
ain't never had much to do with this Butsy, so we ain't wise to him at
first.
"It ain't long till Butsy begins to figger we're tryin' to hand it to
him. He gets sour-balled about everythin' we does. We try to kid him,
but he ain't hep to a kid 'n' he don't stand fur it like he'd ought.
His favorite stunt is to say he'll take his hoss 'n' quit. He springs
this right along.
"From the start this trip gets to Peewee's funny bone. He don't do
nothin' but laugh. Butsy don't see nothin' funny about it, 'n' he gets
to thinkin' Peewee's laughin' at him.
"Peewee'll lay in the stall at night 'n' laugh 'n' laugh. Pretty soon
he'll get me goin', 'n' then we'll lay 'n' snort fur a hour. Butsy
can't go to sleep 'n' he gets wild.
"'What th' hell are you laughin' at?' he says.
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