THE UNDERTAKER'S CHAT. 249 



last wishes and tow him behind the hearse FW be cuss'd. I consider that what- 

 ever a corpse wants done for his comfort is little enough matter, and a man 

 hain't got no right to deceive him or take advantage of him ; and whatever a 

 corpse trusts me to do I'm a-going to do, you know, even if it's to stuff him and 

 paint him yaller and keep him for a keepsake — you hear me me! " 



He cracked his whip and went lumbering away with his ancient ruin of a 

 hearse, and I continued my walk with a valuable lesson learned — that a healthy 

 and wholesome cheerfulness is not necessarily impossible to any occupation. 

 The lesson is likely to be lasting, for it will take many months to obliterate the 

 memory of the remarks and circumstances that impressed it. 



