"'I see you feel putty strong 'bout this bus'nis,' I says.
"'Yes, sir, it's a matter of princ'ple with me,' he says, knockin' his fist down onto the table.
"'How does the outcome on't look to ye?' I says. 'Goin' to be a putty close race, ain't it?'
"'Wa'al,' he says, ''tween you an' me, I reckon it is.'
"'That's the way it looks to me,' I says, 'an' more'n that, the other fellers are ready to spend some money at a pinch.'
"'They be, be they?' he says.
"'Yes, sir,' I says, 'an' we've got to meet 'em halfway. Now,' I says, takin' a paper out o' my pocket, 'what I wanted to say to you is this: You ben ruther more prom'nent in this matter than most anybody—fur's talkin' goes—but I'm consid'ably int'risted. The's got to be some money raised, an' I'm ready,' I says, 'to put down as much as you be up to a couple o' hunderd, an' I'll take the paper 'round to the rest; but,' I says, unfoldin' it, 'I think you'd ought to head the list, an' I'll come next.' Wa'al," said David with a chuckle and a shake of the head, "you'd ought to have seen his jaw go down. He wriggled 'round in his chair, an' looked ten diff'rent ways fer Sunday.
"'What do you say?' I says, lookin' square at him, ''ll you make it a couple a hunderd?'
"'Wa'al,' he says, 'I guess I couldn't go 's fur 's that, an' I wouldn't like to head the list anyway.'
"'All right,' I says, 'I'll head it. Will you say one-fifty?'