Guss went out, and come in agin And filled a pint and tuck it out-- Stayed quite a spell--then peeked back in, Half-hid-like where the light wuz dim, And jieuked his head At Tugg and said,-- "Come out a minute--here's a gent Wants you to take a drink with him."
Well--Tugg laid down his cards and went-- In fact, _we all_ Got up, you know, _Startin'_ to go-- When in reels Guss aginst the wall, As white as snow, Gaspin',--"_He's tuck Tugg!--wher's my gun_?" And-sir, outside we heerd The hoss snort and kick up his heels Like he wuz skeerd, And then the buggy-wheels Scrape--and then Tugg's voice hollerun',-- "I'm bested!--Good-bye, fellers!" . . . 'Peared S' all-fired suddent, Nobody couldn't Jest git it fixed,--tel hoss and man, Buggy and Tugg, off through the dark Went like the devil beatin' tan- Bark!
What _could_ we do? . . . We filed back to The bar: And Guss jest _looked_ at us, And we looked back "The same as you," Still sayin' nothin'--And the sap It stood in every eye, And every hat and cap Went off, as we teched glasses solemnly, And Guss says-he: "Ef it's 'good-bye' with Tugg, fer _shore_,--I say God bless him!--Er ef they Aint railly no _need_ to pray, I'm not reniggin!--board's the play, And here's God bless him, anyway!"
It must a-bin an hour er so We all set there, Talkin o' pore Old Tugg, you know, 'At never, wuz ketched up before-- When--all slow-like--the door- Knob turned--and Tugg come shamblin' in, Hand-cuffed'--'at's what he wuz, I swear!-- Yit smilin,' like he hadn't bin Away at all! And when we ast him where The _Deputy_ wuz at,--"I don't know where," Tugg said,-- "All _I_ know is--he's dead."
Let us forget. What matters it that we Once reigned o'er happy realms of long-ago, And talked of love, and let our voices low, And ruled for some brief sessions royally? What if we sung, or laughed, or wept maybe? It has availed not anything, and so Let it go by that we may better know How poor a thing is lost to you and me. But yesterday I kissed your lips, and yet Did thrill you not enough to shake the dew From your drenched lids--and missed, with no regret, Your kiss shot back, with sharp breaths failing you; And so, to-day, while our worn eyes are wet With all this waste of tears, let us forget!