“Oh, cut that out,” Jim replied sharply. “What d’you mean by going after my rabbits?”
“O Lordee! Be they yours?” Smiley-face scratched his red head.
“You know very well they are. I own this place, don’t I?”
“And the rabbits, too?”
“Well, of course!”
“I reckon they don’t know it, sir,” Smiley-face muttered, still grinning broadly.
“Don’t be an idiot,” said Jim.
The poacher held up his forefinger as though in reproach. “I’m a poor man, me lord,” he murmured.
“You’re a thief.”
“Oh, no,” replied Smiley-face with assurance. “Poachers isn’t thieves, your highness.”