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for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Ill
STEVE TREATS It was for several minutes, I suppose, that I stood
drawing these silent morals. No man occupied himself with me. Quiet
voices, and games of chance, and glasses lifted to drink, continued
to be the peaceful order of the night. And into my thoughts broke
the voice of that card-dealer who had already spoken so sagely. He
also took his turn at moralizing. "What did I tell you?" he
remarked to the man for whom he continued to deal, and who
continued to lose money to him. "Tell me when?" " Didn't I tell you
he'd not shoot ? " the dealer pursued with complacence. " You got
ready to dodge. You had no call to be concerned. He's not the kind
a man need feel anxious about." The player looked over at the
Virginian, doubtfully. " Well," he said, " I don't know what you
folks call a dangerous man." " Not him " exclaimed the dealer with
admiration. " He's a brave man. That's different." The player
seemed to follow this reasoning no better than I did. " It's not a
brave man that's dangerous," continued the dealer. " It's the
cowards that scare me." He paused that this might sink home."
Fello' came in here las' Toosday," he went on. " He got into some
misunderstanding about the drinks. Well, sir, before we could put
him out of business, he'd hurt two perfectly innocent onlookers.
They'd no more to do with it than you have," the dealer explained
to me. " Were they badly hurt ? " I asked. " One of 'em was. He's
died since." " What became of the man ? " " Why, we put him out of
business, I told you. He died that night. But there was no occasion
for any of it; and that's why I never like to be around where
there's a coward. You can't tell. He'll always go to shooting
before it's necessary, and there's no security who he'll hit.. But
a man like t...
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