human
I am called, went on the doctor dryly,
gpt
Doc, I size you up as a gent with brains. I got one piece of advice for you: get the hell away from the Cumberland Ranch and never come back again!
human
Although, he said,
gpt
I cannot pretend to be classed among those to whom physical fear is an unknown, yet I wish to assure you, sir, that with me physical trepidation is not an overruling motive.
human
Oh, hell! groaned Buck Daniels. Then he explained more gently:
gpt
I don't say you're yellow. All I say is: this mess ain't one that you can straighten out--nor no other man can. Give it up, wash your hands, and git back to Elkhead. I dunno what Kate was thinkin' of to bring you out here!
human
The excellence of your intention, said the doctor,
gpt
I shall freely admit, though the assumption that difficulty in the essential problem would deter me from the analysis is an hypothesis which I cannot leave uncontested. In the vulgar, I may give you to understand that I am in this to stay!
human
Well, he said,
gpt
Kate brought you out here. Maybe she has a reason for it. What d'you want to know?
human
What connection, said the doctor,
gpt
What in hell d'you know about a horse and a man and a dog--and wild geese?
human
Rumour, said the doctor,
gpt
Doc, said the cowpuncher sarcastically,
human
Mockery, pronounced the man of learning,
gpt
He came, said Buck Daniels,
human
Ah, nodded the philosopher,
gpt
It ain't, replied Buck.
human
Doc, tell me this: Can a wolf commit a crime?
gpt
Admitting this definition: that crime is the breaking of law, and that law is a force created by reason to control the rational, it may be granted that the acts of the lower animals lie outside of categories framed according to ethical precepts. To directly answer your not incurious question: I believe that a wolf cannot commit a crime.
human
D'you know, doc, he said gravely,
gpt
Ah, murmured the man of learning,
human
It's a goat that's got the legs of one side shorter than the legs on the other side, and the only way he can get to the top of a hill is to keep trottin' around and around the hill like a five per cent. grade. He goes a mile to get ten feet higher.
gpt
This fact, said Byrne, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully,
human
I didn't think you'd follow me, replied Buck with an equal gravity.
gpt
But you can lay to this, Doc; this gent we're waitin' for ain't committed any more crimes than a wolf has.
human
Ah, I see, murmured the doctor,
gpt
Get this straight, said Buck, interrupting with a sternly pointed finger:
human
There ain't a kinder or a gentler man in the mountain-desert than him. He's got a voice softer than Kate Cumberland's, which is some soft voice, and as for his heart--Doc, I've seen him get off his horse to put a wounded rabbit out of its pain!
gpt
If I was in trouble, I'd rather have him beside me than ten other men; if I was sick I'd rather have him than the ten best doctors in the world; if I wanted a pal that would die for them that done him good and go to hell to get them that done him bad, I'd choose him first, and there ain't none that come second.