23
nobody thought about that. Her cold grey
eyeswouldhaveseenthethoughtandmaybe
something goes wrong on the next day,
Johnny Law just happens by or Johnny Cit-
izen comes up with a load of double-ought
buckshot into your soft and tenders. It
wouldn’tpaytogetgay withMary.Shewas a
sainttotheJohnsonFamily,alwaysgoodfor
aplate ofsaltchunk.Onetime Gimpy Gates,
anoldrod-ridingpeteman,killedabumina
jungle forcallingSalt ChunkMaryan oldfat
cow. The old yegg looked at him across the
fire,hiseyescoldasgunmetal...‘Youwerea
goodbum,butyou’redogmeatnow.’Hefired
threetimes.The bumfellforward,his hands
clutching coals, and his hair catching fire.
Well, the bulls pick up Gates and show him
the body: ‘There’s the poor devil you killed,
and you’ll swing for it.’ The old yegg looked
atthemcoldly.Heheldouthishand,gnarled
from years of safe-cracking, two fingers
blown off by the ‘soup’. ‘If I killed him,
140/1780