There
we've been ever since. That's my story, and it ain't a very startling
one after all, is it?"
"And it is true--every word of it," said Senator Bull warmly. "Sammy has
stuck by me through thick and thin. I don't believe I could have made
out without him. As a mine boss, store keeper, deputy sheriff, and
Indian fighter, we swear by him out our way. There is a fellow,
gentlemen, who calls a spade a spade, and oftener than not a _damned_
spade!"
"Don't take my character away, Nathan," expostulated Mr. Ridley humbly;
"give me a show. I'm an old man now, and all I've got left is my good
name, and a little something in the savings bank. Don't be hard on me."
"Sammy," continued the Senator, unnoticing, "could have gone to Congress
if he had cared to. The Democrats were after him only year before last.
Their man won out hands down. Sammy declined the nomination. And that's
the only thing I have against Sammy Ridley. He is a Democrat. It's born
in him, just as some folks inherit a taste for liquor, and others come
into the world plumb crazy, and are satisfied to stay that way all their
lives. However, it is not as bad as it seems. They do say out in our
country that the firm of 'Bull and Ridley' is bound to get there,
because when the Republican party is in the saddle, and there's anything
to be had, it's 'Bull and Ridley,' and when the Democrats are on top,
it's 'Ridley and Bull,' and when the Populists come in we are going out
of business.
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