"Wife's mighty particular about her paper, Gabe," Jasper shouted. "Say, fetch her one o' them farmer papers and then it won't make no diffunce how old it is." "All right. Good-bye." "Good-bye, Gabe," and then thinking of something important Starbuck hastened to cry out: "Say, Gabe, you might fetch me a can of cove oysters and about a straw hat full o' crackers." The last request was shouted through the window, on the sill of which there was a tin cup and near by, in a corner, was a jug. Taking up the jug and the cup Starbuck, approaching his visitor, inquired: "Have a sneeze, Laz?" The young fellow did not look round; he saw neither the jug nor the cup, but he knew what was meant, and with a slight change of countenance as he arose, he replied: "Ain't snoze ter-day." Jasper gave him the cup, raised the jug and said: "Shout when you've got enough." Instantly Laz became animated, but without a change of countenance: "Say, ricolleck that feller lived over our way, had a white hoss--one day come along and--" The cup ran over. "You ain't very good at shoutin', air you?" "Whoa," said Laz. Jasper tilted the jug to his own lips and Laz drained the cup. Starbuck made a motion with the jug toward Margaret and she shook her head with a shudder. "Tastes like the milk of human kindness," said Laz, and Jasper replied: "Yes, till you git too much an' then it's like the juice b'iled outen the hoof of old Satan. Say," he added, as he put the jug in its accustomed place, "have you hearn the new preacher over at Ebenezer?" "Went over to hear," Laz replied, "but a passel of us fellers got to swoppin' saddles down at the spring an' didn't. They say Jim Starbuck kin preach all round him." "Bet Jim kin whup him," said Jasper. "Now, Jasper," his wife spoke up, "why do you allus want to talk about fightin', an' among preachers at that?" "I ain't allus doin' that, Margaret. I happened to mention Jim because fightin' was about the hardest temptation he had to give up, bein' a Starbuck. But, Laz, the preacher over thar is good." "How do you know?" Margaret struck in. "You went to sleep." "Yes," said Jasper, "but he woke me up a time or two, and it takes a putty good one to do that. The last feller they had over thar didn't; he jest let me sleep an' dream--one day I dreamed I was a killin' of a wild cat an' I come mighty nigh a breakin' up the meetin'. But this new man is a high flyer, Laz. He chaws flat terbacker an' spits right out over the dash-board." He took out his watch, shook it, held it to his ear, and glancing at the clock on the mantle-piece, declared: "Either that clock is a liar or this here watch can't tell the truth. I reckon I have mo' trouble with time than anybody in the neighborhood. None of my time-pieces can't git along with one another."