"Paul," he exclaimed, "you do say the beatinest things sometimes! Now what
do you mean by sayin' that all this country will be settled up? Why, thar
ain't enough people in the world fur that, an' thar won't never be."
"Yes there will be, Jim," said Paul decisively, "although it will not
occur in your time."
"Not if I lived to be a hundred years old, Paul, or mebbe a hundred an'
twenty, 'cause I'm a pow'ful healthy man?"
"No, not if you lived to be a hundred and twenty."
Long Jim heaved a deep sigh of relief--he had the true soul of the
woodsman.
"That's mighty relievin' an' soothin'," he said. "Think uv havin' to walk
every day through cleared ground! Think uv lookin' every day fur a
bee-yu-ti-ful sky only to see cabin-smoke! Think uv drawin' your sights on
what you fust take to be a fine buffalo, an' then find out is only your
neighbor's old cow! Think uv your goin' off to a river to trap beaver, an'
findin' nothin' thar but a saw-mill! Think uv your havin' to meet mornin'
an' evenin' all kinds uv people that you don't care nothin' about! Think
uv your goin' out on a great huntin' expedition only to find all them
noble trees cut down a thousan' miles every way, an' nothin' wanderin'
around thar but old lame horses an' gruntin' pigs! I'm plum' thankful that
I'm livin' at the time I do, when thar's lots uv countries you don't know
nothin' about, an' lots uv fun guessin' what they are, an' mostly guessin'
wrong.
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