“Jump,” says I.
“I need all my arms and legs,” says he.
Just then something dropped on me, and I heard Jethro growl like a bear that he had me. He needn’t ’a’ told me; I knew it. Of course I did what I could to get away, and threw myself back and squirmed and kicked and thrashed. But he hung on. I was on the ground and he was leaning over me. All at once I heard a thump and a big grunt out of Jethro, and he let go of me and keeled over, making funny, snuffling noises, like his wind was knocked out. Which it was, for Rock had seen what was going on, and he’d hung by his hands from the window-sill and dropped kerslam right onto the back of Jethro’s neck.
He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up.
“Run!” says he, and we ran. I rather guess we ran. Before Jethro got his breath back we had a good start, and in the dark it was enough. He came plunging and yelling after us, but we took to the shadows and dodged and wriggled through the hedge and made up the road. He didn’t have any more chance to catch us than an angle-worm has to catch a rabbit.
When we knew we had him beaten good we stopped and hid alongside of the road to wait for Tallow and Plunk and Mark. It was quite a while before they came along, and then they didn’t come by the road, but back through the fields and wood-lots. I then whistled out a signal whistle. Mark answered it, so I knew it was our fellows, and in a minute we got together.
“N-now for home,” says Mark. “I’ll take Rock to the house. You f-fellers keep quiet about everythin’ that’s happened. I’ll give out to-morrow that Rock’s a f-friend come to visit me.”
That’s how it was. Mark stopped on his way home, late as it was, to pound on Lawyer Jones’s door. Lawyer Jones was pretty mad when he woke up, and said some pretty descriptive things to Mark, but when Mark told him what was up he quieted right down, and him and Mark went inside for a few minutes. Then we all went home.
Next day Mark and Rock and I went to Lawyer Jones’s and we all read that paper. Rock’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, but Mark says he knew it all the while.
“Now, Lawyer Jones,” says he, “it was the Trumpet that f-found this paper and got it. So the Trumpet’s entitled to something hain’t it?”