It was the usual type of country spring-house. In the center bubbled up a rill of icy water that was contained in a deep stone basin, filled with tall cans of milk. The two men, attracted by Blackie’s easy entrance into the place, followed him quickly, and found him busily gobbling a generous chunk of apple pie, washing it down with milk from a pitcher at his elbow. Hungry as he was, however, Blackie had not lost sight of the deed he had to do; it was part of his plan to entice the men inside. Lew rose to the bait, and began seizing foodstuffs with both hands; but Reno cautiously stood square in the doorway, covering the retreat. His mouth full, Blackie pushed past him, stuffing cookies into his pockets.
“Pass the stuff out, Lew,” Reno was saying “I’ll stick it all in our bag here.”
Blackie had meanwhile gained the outside, and stood facing the back of the man in the doorway. “Why don’t you go in too, Mister Reno?” he asked. “You might miss something if you don’t.”
Something in his tone made the man whirl about suspiciously. “What do you mean, you little roach? If you think you can——”
Blackie saw his only chance, and took it. With a sturdy rush, he butted against Reno’s legs. The tramp, caught off balance, grabbed at the doorway to right himself, and Blackie, with all the force of his body behind it, plunged his doubled fist into the man’s stomach. It was a lucky blow that landed right on the solar plexus, and for a moment Reno was paralyzed. He gave a pained grunt and keeled backwards into Lew, who fell over a tall milk-can and tumbled sidewise into the pool of icy water. Before either of them could flounder to their feet, Blackie had slammed the strong door and shot the bolt upon his prisoners.
He sat down in the trampled, dewy grass, overcome with the reaction that sets in after a trying period of strain and excitement. And suddenly, without knowing why, he began to laugh, laugh until his sides hurt, unable to stop.
Wally Rawn came to him on the run from the house, carrying a long-barreled shotgun in his hands. He tested the soundness of the lock on the spring-house door, and then clapped Blackie on the shoulder.
“Neat work, son! You’ve got them shut up in there like a couple of sardines in a can. Say, what’s the matter with your funny bone?”
“He—he looked so crazy!” gurgled the boy. “I knocked the wind out of Reno, and he fell over and pushed Lew into the water!”
From within the spring-house came an angry racket. Reno must have scrambled to his feet again and was shouting at the door; both men were cursing a blue streak, and Reno was making the most terrifying threats as to what he should do if Blackie did not release the bolt on the instant.