motes of tbe IRfgbt 



run no risks o' bein' swindled. What you see 

 from the excursion boats that go snortin' up the 

 river is all on the outside o' things, though the 

 folks don't seem to know it and go home talkin' 

 like the parson ; and that 'minds me I was guide 

 once for a man who thought buyin' a gun made 

 him a hunter; but when the rub came, there 

 was n't a rag left to cover the feller. Of course, 

 he shot every duck he took home, and never 

 heard o' Bill Pullen. You can't cheat Natur' by 

 puttin' on airs. It don't always happen that a 

 man 's left money and brains too, more 's the pity. 

 He can't buy one with t'other, and it 's t'other 

 that tells in the long run." 



" Did you come here, Bill, just for the satisfac- 

 tion of getting at Nature at first hand, or only to 

 get a harvest to carry to town ? " I asked, trying 

 to bring his wordy discourse to a close. 



" If I 've got to live, what in thunder 's the rea- 

 son I can't live in my own way, and think ac- 

 cordin' to my light ? I ain't treadin' on my neigh- 

 bor's toes or gettin' my elbow into his ribs; so, 

 no offense; but what brought you here, if you 

 don't like it, and at dead o' night, too ? 



"Oh, I came out of curiosity. The world 

 looked so strange from my windows that I wanted 

 to see what it was really like," I replied. 



" You came out o' curiosity, and I guess you 'd 

 better go back to it. Stay in town, and when the 

 sun goes down, stick close to a lamp-post." 

 45 



