They turned and looked Frank over. His youthful appearance seemed to surprise them, and it was evident that they regarded him as a tenderfoot.
Frank lost no time.
“It’s my duty to inform you, gentlemen,” he said, “that Cap’n Wiley has made a slight mistake. I shall not need you.”
This seemed to astonish them.
“What’s that?” cried Spotted Dan hoarsely. “Whatever is this you says, mister?”
Frank quietly repeated his words, upon which one of the ruffians swore.
“I reckons you is the one mistaken,” said Spotted Dan, stepping out. “I opines, sir, that you does need us.”
“Then you opine wrong.”
“We has been engaged all fair and square, and we sticks by it. We proposes to see that you sticks by it, too.”
“Cap’n Wiley had no authority from me to engage anybody,” declared Merry. “That being the case, you can see at once that no agreement made with him counts for anything.”