So then Bony put his arm up against a tree and cried into it, and after he had cried awhile he said:
“My—my fath-father's out in the barn sh-shooting himself with his shotgun!”
“He ain't neither!” Swatty said, and I said it too.
“He is, too, killing himself!” Bony said, and he blubbered at the same time. “You needn't think, just because your fath-fathers don't kill themselves, nobody else's father never kik-kills himself! My fa-father said he'd kik-kill himself, and if he said so he w-will!”
“Aw! He ain't neither killing himself in the barn!” Swatty said, and I guess that made Bony mad, because it was like saying Bony's father was a liar, or that Bony was, anyway. Mostly Bony wouldn't fight, no matter what you said, because he's a cow-ardy-calf; but I guess when a fellow's father is killing himself in a barn or anywhere he don't care what happens to him, so Bony was so mad he forgot how easy Swatty could lick him, and he sort of howled like a cat when you step on its tail and he pitched into Swatty with both fists. So Swatty had to lick him. He licked him good. So when Swatty had him down and was sitting on him, Swatty said:
“Now is your father killing himself in the barn?”
“Yes, he is!” Bony blubbered, and then we knew that Bony's father was really going to kill himself, because if Bony hadn't been pretty sure he would have said he wasn't, because he knew how Swatty can push a fellow's nose into his face with the bottom of his hand when he has got him down and he don't say what Swatty wants him to say. So we knew it must be pretty serious. So Swatty didn't push Bony's nose, but he said:
“Well, your father ain't killing himself in the barn, because he went by here a little while ago with his shotgun. How do you know he's going to kill himself?”
“I know it because him and Mother was fighting over bills, and he said he would,” Bony said.
So then Swatty said, aw! he didn't believe anybody would kill himself because he was fighting over bills. He said he didn't believe any grown-up man would fight over a little thing like bills; so that made me mad, and I said, aw! any man would fight over bills, and that my father did, and that my father was a better man than Swatty's father any day in the week and could lick Swatty's father any time they wanted to try it. And that was true, and Swatty knew it, because my father was bigger than his father and not so old. So Swatty said, aw! well, his oldest brother could lick my father, anyway. So I said he'd better try it if he wanted to find out, and Swatty said, Aw! And I guess that's all we said about that.