"'Tain't such a long story.

This yere Joe Kirby he's a frien' o' mine; I've know'd him a long time, an' he's in a hell of a fix.

He told me 'bout it comin' up on the boat, an', betwixt us, we sort'r fixed up a way ter stack ther cards.

Here's how it all happened: Thar wus an ol' planter livin' down in Missoury at a place called Beaucaire's Landin'.

His name wus Beaucaire, an' he hed a son named Bert, a damn good-fer-nuthing cuss, I reckon.