As we walked on he said, sadly pintin’ to a barren lookin’ 152 spot sown thick with graves, “In this deadly climate the Drink Demon has little to do to assist his brother, Death. Our poor northern boys fall like rotten leaves before a hurricane.”
Sez I, lookin’ up to the blue sky, “Why don’t the heavens fall when such things affront the light of day!”
“The patience of God,” sez Cousin John Richard, “is one of the things we cannot measure.”
“Nor his pity nuther,” sez I in heart-broken axents, for as I looked at them thickly sown graves and thought of the mothers and wives and sweethearts fur, fur away mournin’ for them that wuz not, my tears fell and I wiped ’em off with my snowy linen handkerchief.
Well, Cousin John Richard had an appointment in another part of the city and we parted away from each other, he promisin’ to come and see us at our tarven before we left the city.
Well, we didn’t make a long stay in Manila. But Arvilly beset me to go with her to see General Grant, who was here on a tour of inspection, on this subject so near to her heart, and which she had made her lifework. She said that it wuz my duty to go.
But I sez, “Arvilly, you talk so hash; I can’t bear to have the son of the man who saved his country talked to as I am afraid you will if you git to goin’.”
Sez she, “I won’t open my head. You know the subject from A to izzard. I’ll jest stand by and listen, but somebody ort to talk to him. Hundreds and hundreds of American saloons in this one city! Forced onto these islands by our country. Sunthin’ has got to be done about it. If you don’t go and talk to him about it I shall certainly go alone, and if I do go,” sez she, “he will hear talk that he never hearn before.”
“I’ll go, Arvilly,” sez I hurriedly, “I’ll go and do the best I can, but if you put in and talk so hash it will jest throw me off the track.”