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Ed : I was
sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe.
Grandfather was a lawman. Father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time,
him up in Plano and me out here. I think he was pretty proud of that. I know I
was. Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lot of folks find
that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough never carried one. That the younger Jim.
Gaston Boykins wouldn't wear one up in Commanche County. Now I always liked to
hear about the old-timers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but
compare yourself against the old-timers. Can't help but wonder how they would've
operated these times. There is this boy I sent to the electric chair in
Huntsville here a while back. My
arrest and my testimony. He killed a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was
a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that
he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said
if they turned him out he'd do it
again. Said he knew he was going to hell. Be there in about fifteen minutes. I
don't know what to make of that. I
surely don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even
take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid
of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But I
don't want to push my chips forward
and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to
put his soul at hazard. He just has to say,
"Okay. I'll be part of this world." |
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| Answers
1)
old-timer
- an elderly person
2) turn sb
out
- to force someone to leave |
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