He might as
well ast me to play poker and then squeal when I scooped the pile.
Naybours is wan thing an' swappin' horses is another. All's fair in
a horse trade, an' friends didn't orter swap horses widout they kin
stand the shkinnin'. That's a game by itself. Oi would 'a' helped him
jest the same afther that swap an' moore, fur he wuz good stuff, but
he must nades shoot at me that noight as I come home wit the wad, so
av coorse--"
"I wish ye had a Dog now," said the farmer in the new tone of a new
subject; "tramps is a nuisance at all toimes, an' a Dog is the best
med'cine for them. I don't believe old Cap'd stay here; but maybe yer
near enough to the house so they won't bother ye. An' now I guess the
Paleface will go back to the settlement. I promised ma that I'd see
that yer bed wuz all right, an' if ye sleep warrum an' dry an' hev
plenty to ate ye'll take no harrum."
So he turned away, but as he was quitting the clearing he
stopped,--the curious boyish interest was gone from his face, the
geniality from his voice--then in his usual stern tones of command:
[Illustration: "If ye kill any Song-birds, I'll use the rawhoide on
ye."]
"Now, bhoys, ye kin shoot all the Woodchucks yer a mind ter, fur they
are a nuisance in the field.
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