Now,' I says, takin' a paper out o' my pocket, 'what I wanted to say to you is this: You ben ruther more prom'nent in this matter than most anybody--fur's talkin' goes--but I'm consid'ably int'risted.

The's got to be some money raised, an' I'm ready,' I says, 'to put down as much as you be up to a couple o' hunderd, an' I'll take the paper 'round to the rest; but,' I says, unfoldin' it, 'I think you'd ought to head the list, an' I'll come next.' Wa'al," said David with a chuckle and a shake of the head, "you'd ought to have seen his jaw go down.

He wriggled 'round in his chair, an' looked ten diff'rent ways fer Sunday.
"'What do you say ?' I says, lookin' square at him, ''ll you make it a couple a hunderd ?' "'Wa'al,' he says, 'I guess I couldn't go 's fur 's that, an' I wouldn't like to head the list anyway.' "'All right,' I says, 'I'll head it.

Will you say one-fifty ?' "'No,' he says, pullin' his whiskers, 'I guess not.' "'A hunderd ?' I says, an' he shook his head.
"'Fifty,' I says, 'an' I'll go a hunderd,' an at that he got out his hank'chif an' blowed his nose, an' took his time to it.

'Wa'al,' I says, 'what _do_ ye say ?' "'Wa'al,' he says, 'I ain't quite prepared to give ye 'n answer to-night.