rs who want to die
but are too old to carry a gun, and so go around lamentin' their age,
the furst thing you know, nobody is left but 'em to fight. And then
there won't be no war, because they wouldn't fight. They are too
careful of their precious selves, and too afraid of hell, and have got
over believin' in God, or country, except the price of corn and cotton,
and so that ends war. And that's the way to end it, pass the word
along."

So he went on talkin' and the blacksmith was makin' a rod and he took it
out of the forge and put it on the anvil and it sputtered sparks, and he
pounded it around, and finally he took a chisel and cut off a piece, and
I watched it grow from dull red till it got black and looked like a
piece of licorice. So I went and picked it up. Gee! but it just cooked
my fingers, and I yelled. "Thar's your lesson," says Lem--"remember it.
Don't take hold of a hot thing till it gets cold. Thar's your lesson,
remember that as long as you live."

But I was cryin' and my grandpa came in and when he heard Lem talk, he
said Lem had been drinkin', poor feller, and was another victim of the
awful curse of drink. So he took me to the drug store and got somethin',
and by and by I was better and so we drove home to the farm.

CHAPTER XVII

It was only Tuesday, and the days just dragged by. It seemed Saturday
was a year off, when I was to see Mitch. I was out in the front yard
about nine o'clock and all the rest was in the house. My uncle came
along and began to sharpen a scythe on the grinder and I was turnin' it
for him. I was teasin' him to go to the river and fish and camp out over
night. He said it was too hot, and besides we needed another man, and
Willie Wallace was gone, and he couldn't get Bud Entrekin to go until
he'd hauled some corn. By and by he got the scythe sharp and went away
to cut weeds. While I was standin' there wonderin' what to do, I heard a
low whistle and looked over the fence and there was Mitch. He didn't
look very gay. He was covered with dust, had been walkin' since early
mornin'. He scrooched down behind the fence and whispered to me to come
over into the orchard. We got down in the grass by a tree, first lookin'
for snakes, and then Mitch said: "How much money you got?" I said, I
thought I could get two dollars anyway, and he said, "That's bully, I've
got 80 cents and that's enough." "What you goin' to do, Mitch, you're
not goin' to see Tom now, are you?" Says he: "The t