“ ‘What is that animal?’ I asked him.
“ ‘A ’coon.’
“ ‘How old?’
“ ‘Three years—too old to tame.’
“ ‘Where did you catch it?’
“ ‘In the forest—lots of ’coons in the forest.’
“ ‘Do they live in the open, or in holes?’
“ ‘Up in the trees, sure; they only gits in the hollows when it rains.’
“ ‘Oh! they live in the open? Then isn’t it queer she should be so fond of her tub?’
“ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘she do that to git away from people!’ and he laughed—a genial little man. ‘She not like people and dogs. She too old to tame. She know me, though.’