So offended was he, indeed, that no entreaties or explanations were
sufficient to mollify him, and the story was abruptly broken off.
It was not for two or three days that the boys' explanation and
assurance sufficed; and then, when Charley had explained the whole
history of Samson to him, he said:
"I have no doubt that it is all true, and I wish I could read it
for myself. I can just remember that my mother put a great store on
her Bible, and called it the good book. I can't read myself, and
shouldn't have time to do it if I could; so it's all one as far as
that goes. I am just a hunter and Indian fighter, and I don't know
that for years I have ever stopped so long under a roof as I have
here. My religion is the religion of most of us out on the
prairies. Be honest and true to your word. Stick to a friend to
death, and never kill a man except in fair fight. That's about all,
and I hope it will do; at any rate, it's too late for me to try and
learn a new one now. I listen on a Sunday to your father's reading,
and I wish sometimes I had been taught; and yet it's better as it
is. A man who acted like that wouldn't be much good for a rough
life on the prairies, though I have no doubt it could be done in
the settlements. Now I must go on with my work.
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