Читать книгу Hoosier Lyrics - Field Eugene - Страница 9

Used to think that luck wuz luck and nuthin' else but luck —

It made no diff'rence how or when or where or why it struck;

But sev'ral years ago I changt my mind and now proclaim

That luck's a kind uv science – same as any other game;

It happened out in Denver in the spring uv '80, when

Salty teched a humpback an' win out ten.

Salty wuz a printer in the good ol' Tribune days,

An', natural-like, he fell in love with the good ol' Tribune ways;

So, every Sunday evenin' he would sit into the game

Which in this crowd uv thoroughbreds I think I need not name;

An' there he'd sit until he rose, an', when he rose he wore

Invariably less wealth about his person than before.

But once there come a powerful change; one sollum Sunday night

Occurred the tidle wave what put ol' Salty out o' sight!

He win on deuce an' ace an' jack – he win on king an' queen —

Cliff Bill allowed the like uv how he win wuz never seen!

An' how he done it wuz revealed to all us fellers when

He said he teched a humpback to win out ten.

There must be somethin' in it for he never win afore,

An' when he tole the crowd about the humpback, how they swore!

For every sport allows it is a losin' game to buck

Agin the science of a man who's teched a hump f'r luck;

An' there is no denyin' luck was nowhere in it when

Salty teched a humpback an' win out ten.

I've had queer dreams an' seen queer things, an' allus tried to do

The thing that luck apparrently intended f'r me to;

Cats, funerils, cripples, beggars have I treated with regard,

An' charity subscriptions have hit me powerful hard;

But what's the use uv talkin'? I say, an' say again;

You've got to tech a humpback to win out ten!

So, though I used to think that luck wuz lucky, I'll allow

That luck, for luck, agin a hump ain't nowhere in it now!

An' though I can't explain the whys an' wherefores, I maintain

There must be somethin' in it when the tip's so straight an' plain;

For I wuz there an' seen it, an' got full with Salty when

Salty teched a humpback and win out ten!