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III. IN DIALECTDOW`S FLAT(1856)
Dow`s Flat. That`s its name;
And I reckon that you
Are a stranger? The same?
Well, I thought it was true,--
For thar isn`t a man on the river as can`t spot the place at first
view. It was called after Dow,--
Which the same was an ass,--
And as to the how
Thet the thing kem to pass,--
Jest tie up your hoss to that buckeye, and sit ye down here in the
grass. You see this `yer Dow
Hed the worst kind of luck;
He slipped up somehow
On each thing thet he struck.
Why, ef he`d a straddled thet fence-rail, the derned thing`d get up
and buck. He mined on the bar
Till he couldn`t pay rates;
He was smashed by a car
When he tunneled with Bates;
And right on the top of his trouble kem his wife and five kids from
the States. It was rough,--mighty rough;
But the boys they stood by,
And they brought him the stuff
For a house, on the sly;
And the old woman,--well, she did washing, and took on when no one
was nigh. But this `yer luck of Dow`s
Was so powerful mean
That the spring near his house
Dried right up on the green;
And he sunk forty feet down for water, but nary a drop to be seen. Then the bar petered out,
And the boys wouldn`t stay;
And the chills got about,
And his wife fell away;
But Dow in his well kept a peggin` in his usual ridikilous way. One day,--it was June,
And a year ago, jest--
This Dow kem at noon
To his work like the rest,
With a shovel and pick on his shoulder, and derringer hid in his
breast. He goes to the well,
And he stands on the brink,
And stops for a spell
Jest to listen and think:
For the sun in his eyes (jest like this, sir!), you see, kinder made
the cuss blink. His two ragged gals
In the gulch were at play,
And a gownd that was Sal`s
Kinder flapped on a bay:
Not much for a man to be leavin`, but his all,--as I`ve heer`d the
folks say. And--That`s a peart hoss
Thet you`ve got,--ain`t it now?
What might be her cost?
Eh? Oh!--Well, then, Dow--
Let`s see,--well, that forty-foot grave wasn`t his, sir, that day,
anyhow. For a blow of his pick
Sorter caved in the side,
And he looked and turned sick,
Then he trembled and cried.
For you see the dern cuss had struck--"Water?"--Beg your parding,
young man,--there you lied! It was GOLD,--in the quartz,
And it ran all alike;
And I reckon five oughts
Was the worth of that strike;
And that house with the coopilow`s his`n,--which the same isn`t bad
for a Pike. Thet`s why it`s Dow`s Flat;
And the thing of it is
That he kinder got that
Through sheer contrairiness:
For `twas WATER the derned cuss was seekin`, and his luck made him
certain to miss. Thet`s so! Thar`s your way,
To the left of yon tree;
But--a--look h`yur, say?
Won`t you come up to tea?
No? Well, then the next time you`re passin`; and ask after Dow,--
and thet`s ME.
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