A POT-HUNTER'S DEFIANCE 87 



eggs. I'd like to ask you inside, but Bull hasn't 

 ever told me that I might. ' ' 



The stranger looked directly at the boy. 



** What's he hiding in the cabin?" he asked. 



*'I don't know of a single thing," Shan an- 

 swered, "and, even if I did, it wouldn't be right for 

 me to tell, would it?" 



The newcomer hunched his shoulders forward. 



' ' No, ' ' he said, ' ' I suppose it wouldn 't. As you 

 say, it's his house." 



"Well," put in the game warden, becoming more 

 angry as he found himself at the very place where 

 he had been rebuffed before, "I'd go right in an' 

 search it, if it was me!" 



"And the owner would have the right to shoot 

 you for burglarious entry," answered the other, 

 calmly, "provided that you hadn't any ground for 

 suspicion. That bullheadedness of yours, Thomp- 

 son, is going to get you into trouble one of these 

 days. Being a county game warden doesn't make 

 you sheriff and judge and jury besides. 



"From all I hear, this Bull Adam is a crank 

 and an inhospitable one, at that. But if he wants 

 to be let alone, that's his affair. You w^ouldn't 

 think of breaking into his house, if he lived in the 

 city. Why should you, in the country ? ' ' 



