rein fer quite a piece, an'
so on; an' then, by an' by, strikin' right into his gait an' goin' on
stronger 'n stronger, an' fin'ly finishin' up with an A--men that
carries him quarter way round the track 'fore he c'n pull up. That's my
fav'rit," Mr. Harum repeated, "'cept when him an' Polly sings together,
an' if that ain't a show--pertic'lerly Polly--I don't want a cent. No,
ma'am, when him an' Polly gits good an' goin' you can't see 'em fer
dust."

"I should like to hear them," said Miss Clara, laughing, "and I should
particularly like to hear your favorite, the one which ends with the
Amen--the very _large_ A--men."

"Seventeen hands," declared Mr. Harum. "Must you be goin'? Wa'al, glad
to have seen ye. Polly's hopin' you'll come an' see her putty soon."

"I will," she promised. "Give her my love, and tell her so, please."

They drove away and David sauntered in, went behind the desks, and
perched himself up on a stool near the teller's counter as he often did
when in the office, and John was not particularly engaged.

"Got you roped in, have they?" he said, using his hat as a fan. "Scat my
----! but ain't this a ring-tail squealer?"

"It is very hot," responded John.

"Miss Claricy says you're goin' to sing fer 'em up to their house
to-night."

"Yes," said John, with a slight shrug of the shoulders, as he pinned a
paper strap around a pile of bills and began to count out another.

"Don't feel very fierce for it, I guess, do ye?" said David, looking
shrewdly at him.

"Not very," said John, with a short laugh.

"Feel a little skittish 'bout it, eh?" suggested Mr. Harum. "Don't see
why ye should--anybody that c'n put up a tune the way you kin."

"It's rather different," observed the younger man, "singing for you and
Mrs. Bixbee and standing up before a lot of strange people."

"H-m, h-m," said David with a nod; "diff'rence 'tween joggin' along on
the road an' drivin' a fust heat on the track; in one case the' ain't
nothin' up, an' ye don't care whether you git there a little more
previously or a little less; an' in the other the's the crowd, an' the
judges, an' the stake, an' your record, an' mebbe the pool box into the
barg'in, that's all got to be considered. Feller don't mind it so much
after he gits fairly off, but thinkin' on't beforehand 's fidgity
bus'nis."

"You have illustrated it exactly," said John, laughing, and much amused
at David's very characteristic, as well as accurate, illustration.