“I’ll kill you!”
“I heard you say so before. You were going to tar and feather me, but your scheme seems to have miscarried. You’ve got the first dose of tar yourself.”
“Where’s that baseball bat?” howled Joe Hooker. “I’ll beat his brains out! Give me that bat!”
He saw it and made a scramble for it, but Frank headed him off and bowled him over, although Joe made a desperate attempt to get hold of Merry.
Sam Hooker had not found his “guns,” but he was on his feet now, and in his hand glittered a long knife.
“Oh, I’ll fix him now!” he snarled.
“Hold on!” cried one of the masked men. “That is going too far! We don’t want a hand in a murder!”
“You go to blazes!” snarled Sam. “I’ll cut his throat!”
He made a rush for Frank, brandishing the knife.
Merry knew his life was in danger, but that did not rob him of his nerve. He actually laughed again.