But Ben says he will.

He says Jack hates work and that he couldn't be gambler enough or wicked enough to support himself without working.

Can't you hear Ben Wade say that?
'I'll tell you,' he begins, and then comes a prophecy of trouble or evil.

And, on the other hand, think how he used to say: 'Wait! Don't give up! Nothin' is ever so bad as it seems at first! Be true to what your heart says is right! It's never too late! Love is the only good in life! Love each other and wait and trust! It'll all come right in the end!'...

And, Wilson, I'm bound to confess that both his sense of calamity and his hope of good seem infallible.