Beck grunted assent.
"Yeah. I know there's a hell, Two-Bits."
"My brother always said there was. He said it was an awful place, Tommy. I'll bet two bits th' old Devil was sorry to see Hepburn an' Hilton an' Sam McKee comin' in that mornin'! I'll bet he says to hisself: 'Here's some right smart competition for me!'"
Beck laughed silently.
"Sometimes I get feelin' mighty sorry for 'em," the lanky cow-boy continued. "I use to hate Webb somethin' awful an' I sure did think Hepburn was about th' lowest critter that walked.... God ought to 've made him crawl! Sam McKee never was no good. He was th' meanest man I ever saw....
"But, shucks, Tommy, I hate to think of 'em bein' blistered all th' time!"
"That ain't the kind of hell I referred to, Two-Bits. I don't know much about that kind, with brimstone and fire and all the rest....
"There's a hell, though, Tommy. It's when a man lets the weakness in him run off with what strength he has, when he don't trust those who deserve to be trusted, when he's suspicious of those his heart tells him are above suspicion."
Two-Bits swallowed, setting his Adam's apple leaping. His eyes widened.
"Gosh, you talk just like th' Reverend!" he said, and Beck laughed until his wound hurt him.