“Let him alone, I tell you.”

“I won’t!”

“You shall⁠—he’s on my side of the line.”

“Look here, Joe Harper, whose is that tick?”

“ I don’t care whose tick he is⁠—he’s on my side of the line, and you shan’t touch him.”

“Well, I’ll just bet I will, though. He’s my tick and I’ll do what I blame please with him, or die!”