'
"'Which shows,' said Dan Boggs later, when he hears of Billy's
blazer, 'that this yere Billy Rudd is a mighty high-minded gent, an'
you-alls can play it to win he has my regards. He can count me in on
this deal to keep Willyum from strong drinks.'
"'I thinks myse'f he's right,' says Cherokee Hall. 'Willyum is now
but three years old, which is shore not aged. My idee would be to
raise Willyum, an' not let him drink a drop of nose-paint ever,
merely to show the camp what comes of sech experiments.'
"But Billy's that pos'tive an' self-reliant he don't need no
encouragement about how he conducts Willyum's habits; an', followin'
his remarks, Willyum allers gets ignored complete on invitations to
licker. Packin' the kid 'round that a-way shortens up Billy's booze
a lot, too. He don't feel so free to get tanked expansive with
Willyum on his mind an' hands that a-way.
"It's shorely a picture, the tenderness Billy lavishes on Willyum.
Many a night when Billy's stayin' late, tryin' to win himse'f outen
the hole, I beholds him playin' poker, or mebby it's farebank, with
Willyum curled up on his lap an' shirt-front, snorin' away all sound
an' genial, an' Billy makin' his raises an' callin' his draw to the
dealer in whispers, for fear he wakes Willyum.
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