О мышах и людях

           Theoldmansquirmeduncomfortably.«Well—hell!Ihadhimsolong.Hadhimsincehewasapup.Iherdedsheepwithhim.»Hesaidproudly,«Youwouldn’tthinkittolookathimnow,buthewasthebestdamnsheepdogIeverseen.»

           Georgesaid,«IseenaguyinWeedthathadanAiredalecouldherdsheep.Learneditfromtheotherdogs.»

           Carlsonwasnottobeputoff.«Look,Candy.Thisol’dogjus’suffershisselfallthetime.Ifyouwastotakehimoutandshoothimrightinthebackofthehead—"heleanedoverandpointed,«—rightthere,whyhe’dneverknowwhathithim.»

           Candylookedaboutunhappily.«No,"hesaidsoftly.«No,Icouldn’tdothat.Ihad‘imtoolong.»

           «Hedon’thavenofun,"Carlsoninsisted.«Andhestinkstobeathell.Tellyouwhat.I’llshoothimforyou.Thenitwon’tbeyouthatdoesit.»

           Candythrewhislegsoffhisbunk.Hescratchedthewhitestubblewhiskersonhischeeknervously.«I’msousedtohim,"hesaidsoftly.«Ihadhimfromapup.»

           «Well,youain’tbein’kindtohimkeepin’himalive,"saidCarlson.«Look,Slim’sbitchgotalitterrightnow.IbetSlimwouldgiveyouoneofthempupstoraiseup,wouldn’tyou,Slim?»

           Theskinnerhadbeenstudyingtheolddogwithhiscalmeyes.«Yeah,"hesaid.«Youcanhaveapupifyouwantto.»Heseemedtoshakehimselffreeforspeech.«Carl’sright,Candy.Thatdogain’tnogoodtohimself.Iwishtsomebody’dshootmeifIgetoldan’acripple.»