OTHER WATER BORDERS 



bullets and his eternal possessions on the 

 same occasion. That was the Homeric 

 age of settlement and passed into tradition. 

 Twelve years later one of the Clarks, hold- 

 ing Greenfields, not so very green by now, 

 shot one of the Judsons. Perhaps he hoped 

 that also might become classic, but the jury 

 found for manslaughter. It had the effect 

 of discouraging the Greenfields claim, but 

 Amos used to sit on the headgate just the 

 same, as quaint and lone a figure as the 

 sandhill crane watching for water toads 

 below the Tule drop. Every subsequent 

 owner of Greenfields bought it with Amos 

 in full view. The last of these was Die- 

 drick. Along in August of that year came 

 a week of low water. Judson's ditch failed 

 and he went out with his rifle to learn why. 

 There on the headgate sat Diedrick's frau 

 with a long-handled shovel across her lap 

 227 



