You can see
that for yourself. Tom wanted 'er to learn 'ow to sing and dance so's
she could be earning money all winter, but 'er mother said nix to
that, very proper like. In course o' time, Tom's father worked it so's
Tom could practice 'is bareback acts at Colonel Grand's stables. He
was the best rider in the country at that time. The Colonel got 'im to
drinking and gambling. That was the beginning. The poor cuss 'adn't
been such a bad lot up to that time. Him and Mary had always got on
fairly well until he got to drinking. It wasn't long afore the Colonel
took a notion to Tom's wife. He 'as a wife of 'is own, but that didn't
stop 'im. He just went plumb crazy about Mary Braddock, who was the
purtiest, loveliest woman he'd ever seen--or any of us, for that
matter. I'll never forget how nice she's allus been to my gal 'ere,
and to every gal in the show, for that matter. She's an angel if there
ever was one. Don't interrupt, Casey. I've said it. You keep still,
too, Ruby--and don't sniffle like that, either.
"I won't go into the 'istory of 'ow the Colonel tried to get 'er away
from Tom. I daresay that's the very thing that makes 'er stick to Tom
so loyal-like in spite of wot he is now.
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