ar. Wall, in twenty year he ain't set so much
as a fence-post fur as the eye can see. I been five mile from here on
every side, and I don't see no signs of his ever usin' the land fer
nothin'. Now, mebby the king uh Spain knew what he was talkin' about
when he give this land away, and then agin mebby he didn't. 'T any
rate, I don't know as I think much of a king that'll give away a hull
great gob uh land he never seen, and give it to one feller--more 'n
that feller could use in a hull lifetime; more 'n he would ever need
fer his young 'uns, even s'posin' he had a couple uh dozen--which
ain't skurcely respectable fer one man, nohow. How many's he got,
mister?"

"One--his daughter, over there."

"Hum-mh! Wall, she ain't goin' to need so derned much. You tell Mr.
Picardy I've come a long ways to find a home fer Mary and me; a long
road and a hard road. I can't go no further without I swim fer it, and
that I don't calc'late on doin'. I ain't the kind to hog more land
'n what I can use--not mentionin' no names; but I calc'late on havin'
what I need, if I can get it honest. My old mother used to read outa
the Bible that the earth was the Lord's and the fullness thereof; and
I ain't never heard of him handin' over two-thirds of it to any king
uh Spain. What he's snoopin' around in Ameriky fur, givin' away
great big patches uh country he never seen, I ain't askin'. Californy
belongs to the United States of Ameriky, and the United States of
Ameriky lets her citizens make homes for themselves and their families
on land that ain't already in use. If Mr. Picardy can show me a deed
from Gawd Almighty, signed, sealed, and delivered along about the time
Moses got hisn fer the Land uh Canyan, or if he can show a paper from
Uncle Sam, sayin' this place belongs to him, I'll throw off these
logs, h'ist the box back on the wagon and look further; but I ain't
goin' to move on the say-so uh no furrin' king, which I don't believe
in nohow."

He took the pipe from his mouth, and with it pointed to a spot twenty
feet away, so that they all looked towards the place.

"Right thar," he stated slowly, "is whar I'm goin' to build my cabin,
fer me and Mary. And right over thar I'm goin' to plow me up a truck
patch. I'm a peaceable man, mister. I don't aim to have no fussin'
with my neighbors. But you tell Mr. Picardy that thar'll be loopholes
cut on all four sides uh that thar cabin, and Jemimy and the twins'll
be ready to argy with anybody that