BLANCO. Stow it, Boozy. Sling it. Cut it. Cheese it. Shut up.
"Shake not the dying sinner's hand."
ELDER DANIELS. Aye: there you go, with your scraps of lustful
poetry. But you cant deny what I tell you. Why, do you think I
would put my soul in peril by selling drink if I thought it did
no good, as them silly temperance reformers make out, flying in
the face of the natural tastes implanted in us all for a good
purpose? Not if I was to starve for it to-morrow. But I know
better. I tell you, Blanco, what keeps America to-day the purest
of the nations is that when she's not working she's too drunk to
hear the voice of the tempter.
BLANCO. Dont deceive yourself, Boozy. You sell drink because you
make a bigger profit out of it than you can by selling tea. And
you gave up drink yourself because when you got that fit at
Edwardstown the doctor told you youd die the next time; and that
frightened you off it.
ELDER DANIELS [fervently] Oh thank God selling drink pays me! And
thank God he sent me that fit as a warning that my drinking time
was past and gone, and that he needed me for another service!
BLANCO. Take care, Boozy. He hasnt finished with you yet. He
always has a trick up His sleeve--
ELDER DANIELS. Oh, is that the way to speak of the ruler of the
universe--the great and almighty God?
BLANCO. He's a sly one. He's a mean one. He lies low for you. He
plays cat and mouse with you. He lets you run loose until you
think youre shut of him; and then, when you least expect it, he's
got you.
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