48 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



one on which he had brooded sullenly many a win- 

 ter evening, and presently he broke out angrily, 



"It beats me what business these law-makin' 

 folks have got interferin' with other folks' affairs. 

 What swot-hingled concern is it of Ned Thomp- 

 son 's if I shoot a duck, now an ' again ? They ain 't 

 his ducks, are they?" 



This seemed to call for an answer. 



** These are wild ducks, anyhow," agreed Shan, 

 therefore. "At least, I reckon so." 



"0' course they're wild duck! They don't be- 

 long to nobody. I ain't no thief. I don't go to a 

 man's farm-yard an' shoot his tame ducks, do I? 

 Why not? 'Cause they're his. He's got a right 

 to 'em. He puts a fence round 'em. They're on 

 his property. He feeds 'em. 



"There ain't no fences 'round the wild ducks. 

 They ain't on no one's property. There ain't no 

 brand on 'em. There ain't no one feeds 'em corn. 

 They're mine jest as much as they're anybody's. 

 Who 's got the right to tell me whether I can shoot 

 'em or no? My father an' my grandfather, yes, 

 an' his grandfather before him, shot duck on these 

 here marshes. An' I reckon I'm goin' right on, 

 goin' to shoot duck, when, where an' how I've a 

 mind to ! " 



