“Yes, but look! There are the Hydes!” cried Terry, pointing.
Into the patch of light from one of the small windows a burly figure stepped and another joined it. A third figure proclaimed the father. There was a word of planning between them and then one of the sons raised his foot and kicked the window deliberately out. With that action he jumped right through the opening and landed in the room. A moment of silence followed and then the front door was opened. Promptly the father and the other son walked in and the door was shut.
“Just in time,” proclaimed the colonel, grimly. “Let us hustle, boys.”
They ran down the rest of the slope, the doughty colonel in front, and came to the cabin in a short time. The colonel threw himself against the door, which had not been very well secured, and it opened under his impact. Followed by Don, Terry, Jim and Jordan, the colonel shot into the room.
In one corner crouched the supposed invalid, his face pale and his hands grasping a stout stick. Facing him, with brutal expressions on their surly faces, stood the Hydes. The oldest son held a heavy horsewhip in his hands, and it was evident that he was just going to use it when the cadet party burst in.
At sight of the cadets the expressions on their faces changed. Surprise gave way to eager gladness on the face of the old man and spiteful anger on the faces of the Hydes. As yet no blow had fallen and the relief party was in the nick of time.
“What do you want here?” the father said, a snarl in his voice.
“We want that man, for playing the part of a ghost and stampeding our horses,” said the colonel evenly. “And we want to see to it that you don’t touch that man with your whip.”
“You do, heh?” grunted the son with the whip. “You all can have this old man if you want him, but you can’t stop us from whipping the daylights out of him. This is the dog that burned our barn down.”
“I know all about that,” nodded the colonel. “But you won’t horsewhip him. You can turn him over to the proper authorities; in fact, I have already sent for the sheriff and he will be here any minute now. But you can’t take the law into your own hands, not while we are here, certainly.”