"Come now, Stubbs," said Chester. "You do us both an injustice. You must explain yourself."

"Great Scott!" Stubbs burst out. "Explain, must I? What do you mean,
I must explain?"

"Hold up a minute, now, Stubbs," said Hal. "You're all tangled up here. You've forgotten what you are talking about."

"Tangled? Forgot?" sputtered Stubbs. "What do you think I am, a fool?"

"Well, I didn't say so, did I Mr. Stubbs?" Hal wanted to know.

"That means you do, eh?" grumbled Stubbs.

"Well, all right, think what you please. What I asked you was this:
Why did you run away from me?"

"What makes you think we ran away, Stubbs?" asked Chester.

"What makes me think it? Why shouldn't I think it, I ask you? Why shouldn't I think it? I ask you to wait till I get a horse, and when I come back, you're gone."

"Maybe we didn't hear you, Mr. Stubbs," put in Hal.