from page 232 of DEVIL MAKE A THIRD:

Buck carefully set his glass down on the bar, and his eyes narrowed suddenly.

"Something wrong?"

"Aw, Buck, you know what was happening when you left. Preachers and deacons and sisters and Epworth Leagues. Like a bunch of wood lice eating at a tree, and you can't see them until the tree falls down."

"Is it getting worse?"

Tobe nodded and lifted his glass and drank quickly.

"Buck," he said, leaning on the bar and frowning, "they started the minute you left town, working to beat hell." He began to mimic the women. "Licensed the fancy women, taxed the gamblers, graft, ungodly, drinks too much, gambles all night, and a woman ain't safe with him. Hell-fire." Tobe suddenly spat on the floor.

Buck's face relaxed.

"Nothing new in that."