But
I feels mighty cunnin' over it at the time, an' regards it as a
'way-up play.
"'As I tells you, thar arrives an hour while I'm in the Tub of Blood
when my money's all in my boot, an' thar's still licker to drink.
Fact is, I jest meets a gent named Frosty, as good a citizen as ever
riffles a deck or pulls a trigger, an' p'liteness demands we-alls
puts the nose-paint in play. That's why I has to have money.
"'I don't care to go pullin' off my moccasins in the Tub of Blood,
an' makin' a vulgar display of my wealth by pourin' the silver onto
the floor. Thar's a peck of it, if thar's dos reals; an' sech an
exhibition as spillin' it out in the Tub of Blood is bound to
mortify me, an' the barkeep, an' Frosty, an' most likely lead to
makin' remarks. So I concloods I'll round up my silver outside an'
then return.
"'Excuse me," I says to Frosty. "You stay right yere with the
bottle, an' I'll be among you ag'in in a minute all spraddled out."
"'I goes wanderin' out back of the Tub of Blood, where it's
lonesome, an' camps down by a Spanish-bayonet, an' tugs away to get
my boot off an' my dinero into circ'lation.
"'An' while I'm at it, sleep an' nose-paint seizes me, an' my light
goes plumb out.
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