It takes a Republican to find
that out." And, greatly amused at his own wit, Mr. Barly, who was a
Democrat, slapped his knee and burst out laughing.
"Yes, sir," said Mr. Crabbe solemnly, with pious joy, "I'm a
Republican . . . a good Republican, Mr. Barly, like my father before
me." He smote his fist into his open palm. "I'll vote the Democrats
blue in the face. If a man can't vote for his own advantage, what's
the ballot for? I say let's mind our own business. And let me get my
hands on what I want."
"Get what you can," said Mr. Barly.
"And the devil take the hindmost."
"It's all the same to me," quoth Mr. Barly, "folks being mostly alike
as two peas."
Mr. Crabbe spat into the stubble. "The way I look at it," he said,
"it's like this: first, there's me; and then there's you. That's the
way I look at it, Mr. B."
And he went home to repeat to his wife what he had said to Farmer
Barly. "I gave it to him," he declared.
In another field, Abner and John Henry, who had been to war, also
discussed politics.
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