human
D'ye kill many mountain sheep here, Dick?
gpt
Ay, lots of 'em.
human
What like are they close? I've never been nearer to 'em yet than a thousand yards or so--never within range.
gpt
They're 'bout the size of a settlement sheep, an' skin somethin' like the red deer; ye've seen the red deer, of coorse, March?
human
Yes, often; shot 'em too.
gpt
Well, like them; but they've got most treemendous horns. I shot one last week with horns three fut six inches long; there they lie now in that corner. Are ye a good shot, March?
human
Middlin'.
gpt
D'ye smoke?
human
Yes, a little; but I an't a slave to it like some.
gpt
Humph! ejaculated Dick sarcastically.
human
If ye smoke `a little,' how d'ye know but ye may come to smoke much, an' be a slave to it like other men? Ye may run down a steep hill, an' say, when yer near the top, `I can stop when I like'; but ye'll come to a pint, lad, when ye'll try to stop an' find ye can't--when ye'd give all ye own to leave off runnin'; but ye'll have to go on faster an' faster, till yer carried off yer legs, and, mayhap, dashed to bits at the bottom. Smokin' and drinkin' are both alike. Ye can begin when you please, an', up to a certain pint, ye can stop when ye please; but after that pint, ye _can't_ stop o' yer own free will--ye'd die first. Many an' many a poor fellow _has_ died first, as I know.
gpt
An' pray, Mister Solomon, do _you_ smoke?
human
No, never.
gpt
Not smoke?
human
No; nor drink neither, said Dick.
gpt
I once did both, before I came to this part o' the country, and I thank the Almighty for bringing me to a place where it warn't easy to get either drink or baccy--specially drink, which I believe would have laid me under the sod long ago, if I had bin left in a place where I could ha' got it. An' now, as Mary has just left us, poor thing, I'll tell ye how I came by the big iron pot. There's no mystery about it; but as it b'longed to the poor child's father, I didn't want to speak about it before her.