"I don't know; I never thought of it before."
Absurd as the question appears to us, it was far from being so to the people of Old Monmouth in the times of which we are writing. So warm had the discussion become that it was soon after carried into the courts, and in 1808 a case was tried before the supreme court, but no definite decision was gained. In 1821 another famous trial was held, and finally in 1858 the supreme court decided that oysters were both tame and wild. Where they had grown naturally and without being planted, they were to be considered as wild and the property of any one who chose to take them; but where they had been planted, and there was no natural growth, the oysters were "tame" and the property of the one who had made the bed. Even after that decision there was trouble for a long time in Old Monmouth over the question, although to-day it is generally accepted that a man may own oysters as he does other animals.
"So am I, but I'm not thinking of oysters just now. I want to go up to Benzeor Osburn's more than anything else."
"I'm with ye. We're so near, maybe Jeshurun will be willing to go, if he doesn't have to carry me on his back. I'll try him and see."
To the surprise of both, Jeshurun appeared to be willing to resume the journey and obediently followed Ted, who led him by the bridle rein which he slipped over the mule's head.
In this wise they all walked on, but as they came nearer to the end of their journey, conversation ceased. Little Peter was thinking of the children and trying to devise some plan by which he might care for them. What his companion's thoughts were did not appear, but the expression upon his face had undergone a change, and from the occasional word he dropped, which sounded very like "Hangin' Sallies," the lad thought he knew what was going on in Ted's mind. What would occur if Benzeor should be found at his home, Little Peter could not determine; but he felt assured from Ted's manner that this time his neighbor would not escape so easily as he had when the angry man had given him his involuntary bath in the waters of the Shrewsbury River.
However, there was a deal of comfort for the lad in the company of his powerful friend; and as Benzeor's little house now appeared in the distance, he was more and more rejoiced that he was not compelled to approach it alone. If Indian John's words were correct, Benzeor was not there now; but it was more than possible that John had been mistaken, or that the man had returned since his visit in the early morning.