WISE MEN AND A MULE

Excerpt: "?She?s the beautifulest story ever wrote. I tell yuh she?s a dinger, and I?m a heap in favor of showin? it to the multitude, ad lib, also visibly.? ?Magpie? Simpkins shifts his feet on the table and leans back in his chair, acting like he?s said something real smart. ?The best ever told,? admits ?Old Testament? Tilton. ?I longs to see it portrayed piously and with feelin? aforethought.? ?But can she be done?? asks Wick Smith. ?The time is short.? ?Piperock can do anything she sets out to do,? states Magpie. ?And everything else that could possibly happen between the time she starts and the time she finishes,? says I. ?I figured it was about time for you to say something, Ike,? opines Magpie. Me and ?Dirty Shirt? Jones wasn?t invited to this conference, but we?re there anyway. Buck Masterson, Wick Smith, Judge Steele, Old Testament and Magpie are the committee. Dirty said there?d likely be need of substitutes before the meeting had gone far, so we took it upon ourselves to attend. ?Three wise men won?t be hard to find.""