human
Hey! called Bill.
gpt
I want to ask you somethin'.
human
Well?
gpt
Just saw Kane. He says he has got somethin' to offer me. What is it?
human
My job, I reckon!
gpt
Yore job? exclaimed his companion.
human
I don't want yore job. If I'd 'a' knowed that was it I'd 'a' told him so, flat. I'm playin' for myself. An' say: He orders me not to play no more poker in his place. Wouldn't that gall you?
gpt
Then I wouldn't do it, said the gambler, taking his arm.
human
Come in an' have a drink. What else did he say?
gpt
An' that Thorpe said he'd make me climb up th' wall! Wonder who he thinks he is--Bill Hickok?
human
Oh, he don't mean nothin'. He's a lookin'-glass. When Kane laughs, _he_ laughs; when Kane has a sore toe, _he's_ plumb crippled. But, just th' same I'm tellin' you Thorpe's a bad man with a gun. Don't rile him too much. Say, was you ever paired up with Ewalt?
gpt
Look here! he growled.
human
I'm plumb tired of answerin' personal questions. Not meanin' to hurt yore feelin's none, I'm sayin' it's my own cussed business what my name is, where I come from, who my aunt was, an' how old I was when I was born. I never saw such an' old-woman's town!
gpt
Keep all four feet on th' ground, Long; but it _is_ funny, now ain't it?
human
Mebby--but for a little while I couldn't see it that way. Have one with me, after which I'm goin' up an' skin that SV man before you can get a crack at him. He's fair lopsided with money. If I can't play poker in Kane's, I shore can send a lot of folks to his place with nothin' left but their pants an' socks!
gpt
Don't overdo it, warned Fisher.
human
Come on--I'm headin' back an' I'll leave you at Quayle's.
gpt
How'd you ever come to let that yearlin'-mad foreman keep away from yore game? asked Bill as they started up the street.
human
Strikes me you shore overlooked somethin'.
gpt
Does look like it, from a distance, admitted Fisher, grinning.
human
Reckon we was goin' too easy with him; but we didn't know you was goin' to turn up an' horn in. We never like to stampede a good prospect by bein' hasty. We felt him out a little an' I was figgerin' on amusin' him right soon. There's somethin' cussed queer about him. We're all guessin', an' guessin' different.
gpt
Yes? inquired Bill carelessly.
human
I didn't notice nothin' queer about him. He acts a little too shore of hisself, which is how I like 'em. You ain't got a chance to get him now, for I'm goin' to set on his fool head an' burn a nice, big BL on his flank. So any little thing that you know shore will come in handy. I'd do th' same for you. I'm through spoilin' yore game in Kane's, an' I didn't take yore job. What's so queer about him?
gpt
It ain't nothin' about cards. He figgered in a mistake that was made, an' don't know how lucky he was. Th' boss don't often slip up--an' there's a white man an' some Greasers in this town that are cussed lucky too. They blundered, but they got what they went after. An' nobody's heard a word about th' gent that was _un_lucky, which makes me suspicious. I got a headache tryin' to figger it. He shook his head again and then exclaimed in sudden anger:
human
An' I've quit tryin'! Kane was all set to throw me into th' discard as soon as you come along. He can think what he wants to, for all I care. But let me tell you this: If you win a big roll in this town, an' th' one you got now is plenty big enough, be careful how you wander around after dark. I reckon I owe you that much, anyhow.
gpt
I don't know what yo're talkin' about, but that don't make no difference. Th' last part was plain. Come in an' have somethin'.
human
Friend, I'd just as soon be seen goin' in there _now_ as I would be seen rustlin' a herd; an' it might even be worse for me. Let it go till you come up to our place. _Adios._