Amos Perkins was hired in the spring to shoot muskrats, which were overrunning the mill dam. An acquaintance paused to chat one day with Amos, who was sitting at ease on the bank of the stream, his gun safely out of reach.
"I hear the muskrats are undermining the dam," the acquaintance said.
"So they be, so they be!" Amos agreed.
"Hi! there goes one!" cried the visitor, pointing. "Shoot! Why don't you shoot, man?"
Amos spat tobacco juice emphatically, and answered: "Huh! think I want to lose my job?"
