"
"Yes," sez I coldly, "I've hearn _talk_."
"Yes," sez he, "but if we do succeed, after the most strenious efforts in
getting the duty off champagne, green turtle, olives, etc., and put on to
sugar, tea, cotton cloth and such like, with all this brain fag and brain
labor--"
"And tongue labor!" sez I in a icy axent.
"Yes, after all this ceaseless toil the common people will not show any
gratitude; we statesmen labor oft with aching hearts." And he leaned his
forward on his hand and sithed.
But my looks wuz like ice-suckles on the north side of a barn. And I
stopped his complaints and his sithes by askin' in a voice that demanded a
reply:
"Can you and will you do Serepta's errents? Errents full of truth and
justice and eternal right?"
He said he knew they wuz jest runnin' over with them qualities, but happy
as it would make him to do 'em, he had to refuse owin' to the fur more
important matters he had named, and the many, many other laws and preambles
that he hadn't time to name over to me. "Mebby you have heard," sez
he, "that we are now engaged in making most important laws concerning
moth-millers, and minny fish, and hog cholera. And take it with these
important bills and the constant strain on our minds in tryin' to pass laws
to increase our own salaries, you can see jest how cramped we are for time.
And though we would love to pass some laws of truth and righteousness--we
fairly ache to--yet not havin' the requisite time we are forced to lay 'em
on the table or under it.
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