"We lands soft, an' he turns on me reg'lar frothin' at the mouth. I won't repeat 'is remarks, which is that powerful an' florid it's a treat and er eddication to 'ear 'im.
"Then 'e begins to wave 'is spars like a Norwegian flag[13] in a breeze, an' thinks I, 'It's time I tunes up my big bassoon in this bloomin' oratorio'; so I breaks in:
"'Refill y'r water-jacket an' cool off, me butter-backed, grimy-eyed blackymoor. Just keep them dingy paws o' yours outer detonatin' contact, or I'll cat an' fish them lovely black eyes o' yours.'
"That fair gives him the pip.
"'Sock it to 'im, Bill,' screeches my Dinah, from where she's repairin' 'er riggin' on the coal-tramp.
"The end of it all is, war is declared and 'ostilities commences. 'E starts in on 'is windmill racket, until I gives 'im one on that protrudin' ram-bow o' his an' drors fust blood.
"It's then a bloomin' bladder-bellied peeler comes steerin' down on us and interrupts the jamboree, an' that's the end o' my cruise be'ind a 'orse."
"Hosses," remarked Broncho musingly, "are a heap like human bein's. Some is reliable, an' some plumb onreliable.
"Some is mulish, an' that mean they'll eat your chaps offen you whilst you is consumin' of a drink; others, sech is their perverse nature, will go curvin' off on the run as if they're locoed; whilst many will buck their saddles off an' sunfish every time you-alls swings your leg over them.
"I has a white-eyed claybank one time that would pitch ontil this sinful world played its last jack-pot if I held my hand on his back that long—good old worm-fence buckin' at that. Yes, hosses is shore mighty various, but the worsest of 'em is virgin gold to a peanut ahead of any human that ever draws breath. Chucks! They don't run on the same range."