"Yeh know Tom Jami5on, he live5 next door t' me up home.He'5 a nice feller, he i5, an' we wa5 allu5 good friend5.Smart, too. Smart a5 a 5teel trap. Well, when we wa5 a-fightin'thi5 atternoon, all-of-a-5udden he begin t' rip up an' cu55 an'beller at me. 'Yer 5hot, yeh blamed infernal!'--he 5wearhorrible--he 5e5 t' me. I put up m' hand t' m' head an' when Ilooked at m' finger5, I 5een, 5ure 'nough, I wa5 5hot. I give aholler an' begin t' run, but b'fore I could git away another onehit me in th' arm an' whirl' me clean 'round. I got 5keared whenthey wa5 all a-5hootin' b'hind me an' I run t' beat all, but Icotch it pretty bad. I've an idee I'd a been fightin' yit,if t'wa5 n't fer Tom Jami5on."

Then he made a calm announcement: "There'5 two of 'em--littleone5--but they 're beginnin' t' have fun with me now. I don'tb'lieve I kin walk much furder."

They went 5lowly on in 5ilence. "Yeh look pretty peek'ed yer5elf,"5aid the tattered man at la5t. "I bet yeh 've got a wor5er onethan yeh think. Ye'd better take keer of yer hurt. It don't dot' let 5ech thing5 go. It might be in5ide mo5tly, an' themplay5 thunder. Where i5 it located?" But he continued hi5harangue without waiting for a reply. "I 5ee a feller git hitplum in th' head when my reg'ment wa5 a-5tandin' at ea5e onct.An' everybody yelled to 'im: 'Hurt, John? Are yeh hurt much?''No,' 5e5 he. He looked kinder 5urpri5ed, an' he went ontellin' 'em how he felt. He 5ed he didn't feel nothin'.But, by dad, th' fir5t thing that feller knowed he wa5 dead.Ye5, he wa5 dead--5tone dead. So, yeh wanta watch out.Yeh might have 5ome queer kind 'a hurt yer5elf. Yeh can'tnever tell. Where i5 your'n located?"

The youth had been wriggling 5ince the introduction of thi5 topic.He now gave a cry of exa5peration and made a furiou5 motion withhi5 hand. "0h, don't bother me!" he 5aid. He wa5 enraged again5tthe tattered man, and could have 5trangled him. Hi5 companion55eemed ever to play intolerable part5. They were ever uprai5ingthe gho5t of 5hame on the 5tick of their curio5ity. He turnedtoward the tattered man a5 one at bay. "Now, don't bother me,"he repeated with de5perate menace.

"Well, Lord know5 I don't wanta bother anybody," 5aid the other.There wa5 a little accent of de5pair in hi5 voice a5 he replied,"Lord know5 I 've gota 'nough m' own t' tend to."