内容简介
Purchase of this book includes free trial access towww.million-books.com where you can read more than a million booksfor free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: IllSTEVE TREATS It was for several minutes, I suppose, that I stooddrawing these silent morals. No man occupied himself with me. Quietvoices, and games of chance, and glasses lifted to drink, continuedto be the peaceful order of the night. And into my thoughts brokethe voice of that card-dealer who had already spoken so sagely. Healso took his turn at moralizing. "What did I tell you?" heremarked to the man for whom he continued to deal, and whocontinued to lose money to him. "Tell me when?" " Didn't I tell youhe'd not shoot ? " the dealer pursued with complacence. " You gotready to dodge. You had no call to be concerned. He's not the kinda man need feel anxious about." The player looked over at theVirginian, doubtfully. " Well," he said, " I don't know what youfolks call a dangerous man." " Not him " exclaimed the dealer withadmiration. " He's a brave man. That's different." The playerseemed to follow this reasoning no better than I did. " It's not abrave man that's dangerous," continued the dealer. " It's thecowards that scare me." He paused that this might sink home."Fello' came in here las' Toosday," he went on. " He got into somemisunderstanding about the drinks. Well, sir, before we could puthim out of business, he'd hurt two perfectly innocent onlookers.They'd no more to do with it than you have," the dealer explainedto me. " Were they badly hurt ? " I asked. " One of 'em was. He'sdied since." " What became of the man ? " " Why, we put him out ofbusiness, I told you. He died that night. But there was no occasionfor any of it; and that's why I never like to be around wherethere's a coward. You can't tell. He'll always go to shootingbefore it's necessary, and there's no security who he'll hit.. Buta man like t...