"’Fraid I was a bit rude that time," said ’Possum.  "But if you once let one of those fellers come to your house, you’re never free of them. They’ll turn up at any hour and want tucker and baccy; an’ what’s more, they’ll tell their friends, and you’ll have them callin’ too.  And they’d steal the very clothes off your back.  Nothin’s safe from them—the washin’ out on the line, an’ the chickens, an’ the things in the shed.  They’re a caution when they take to hangin’ round a place."