THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 65 



didn t believe in doing anything with muck swamps, eh ? 

 What are you doing here ?&quot; 



&quot; Why, you see, Mr. Bunker, I ve known this ere swamp 

 for risin of thirty years, and have raised corn near it for 

 about the same length of time ; and I never had a piece 

 of corn anywhere in this neighborhood that wa n t badly 

 eat with the muskrats. You see the scoundrels begin to 

 work upon it early in July, and they keep at it until frost 

 comes. I ve sot traps for em, and shot em, and done 

 every thing I could think of to kill em off, and I believe 

 they are thicker than ever this spring. So you see, I was 

 riding by your house last week, and seed where that horse- 

 pond used to be, and I got to thinking, and this ere plan 

 came to me, all at once, like a flash of lightning. Thinks 

 I to myself, I ve got them pesky animals in a tight place 

 at last. I ll dry em up, and put em on the total absti 

 nence principle, be hanged if I don t. You can t have a 

 drunkard without bitters, nor a musk rat without water, 

 can you ? And you see, with one day s work I ve took the 

 water all down to the bottom of the pond, and I am 

 bound to go three feet deeper, by the measure. Whether 

 I make anything out of this bog or not, I m bound to rid 

 the rest of my farm of a great enemy.&quot; 



It was a grand sight, Mr. Editor, you may depend upon 

 it. I don t know as I bear any particular ill-will to the 

 tadpoles and turtles, but somehow I kind o like to see 

 their confusion, when the water slopes off on a sudden, 

 and they flop around in the mud, not knowing which way 

 to emigrate. They lay there by the bushel, evidently 

 very much troubled at the daylight. I would go further 

 to see such a sight, than to see all the menageries ever ex 

 hibited. I have heard them tell about the fine points in 

 a painting, the contrast of colors, &c. There is no con 

 trast quite so satisfactory to my mind as this light-colored 

 clay on top of a black muck soil. I am always certain 

 of dark green to shade it pretty early in the season. 



