"We won't do it, Zeb."
The latter turned and looked intently at his visitor.
"What about that place of yours, Abner?"
"Well, what about it?"
"Don't ye know? If ye buck that government bunch ye'll not stand a ghost of a chance to git anythin' fer ye'r gravel hill. But they might do somethin' big if ye side with 'em."
"De ye mean to insinuate, Zeb, that they kin buy me?"
"Not exactly that, but ye might make a better deal if ye rub 'em the right way."
"H'm. I'll rub 'em the right way, Zeb. There's only one right way to rub them fellers, an' that's the way I rubbed Joe Preston the other mornin'."
"An' git into trouble, Abner."
"Mebbe so. But when wasn't I in trouble? I've been more or less in trouble ever since I was born, an' I'll be that way as long as there's snakes an' skunks in the country."