THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 227 



caught him in the act, this morning airly. He was gnaw 

 ing away at a sheep he had run down, and that is sheep s 

 blood you see on his teeth now. I put that bullet between 

 his eyes, and he hadn t time to clean his teeth before he 

 emigrated to t other country. That trap has caught three 

 sheep of mine this spring, besides lots of my neighbors , to 

 say nothing of the lambs ; and I was so afraid the trap 

 might be set again that I jest cut his head off after I shot 

 him, to make sure work of it. That critter has destroyed 

 a hundred dollars worth of property this spring, I haven t 

 a doubt. Sheep have been found dead, and badly maim 

 ed, and he has been seen chasing them. When complaint 

 has been made to Jake, he could not believe he was guilty 

 of even chasing sheep. He did not allow him in such 

 tricks. His dog was as innocent as a lamb. Children 

 could play with him, and he wouldn t even growl. To 

 hear Jake talk, you would think the dog s mother must 

 have been a sheep. Waal, now, ye see, that talk didn t 

 go down with me. * I can tell a sheep stealin dog as soon 

 as I lay my eye on him. There is a kind of guilty look 

 about the critter, that says mutton, as if it stuck in his 

 jaws. Jake has never been able to raise sheep. If he 

 tried, his lambs disappeared mysteriously when that dog 

 was a puppy. He always laid it to other folks dogs. 

 But Rover was the guilty wretch that drunk lambs blood. 

 I have been watching him for about a week, and ye see 

 this morning I got him jest where I wanted him. There 

 was a piece of mutton in his mouth when I fired. It will 

 take a smarter man than Jake Frink to get away from 

 that fact.&quot; 



&quot;I guess you ll catch it when Jake hears of it.&quot; 

 &quot; He won t have to wait long, for I am going to take 

 home Jake s sheep trap this morning. I wouldn t have 

 you think that I d shoot a man s dog, and then not own 

 it. That would be too much like a sheep stealing dog. I 

 calculate to take the responsibility.&quot; 



