“Pay him in clams,” suggested Frank.
“No, I want the money,” insisted the dude. He took a step after Bob, who walked around to get on the seat of the wagon. At his first movement Chet was made aware of the sand in the bottoms of his trousers.
The dude looked down, half frightened. Then he made a leap forward. The sand was scattered all about, a good portion of it going into the low shoes Chet wore. This filled them so that they were hard to walk in, and the next moment the stylishly dressed youth lurched, stepped into a hollow, and fell flat on the sand, his slender cane breaking off short at the handle as it caught between his legs.
“Come here and I’ll pick you up!” shouted Andy, who had scrambled away as he saw Chet start out.
“You—you—who did this? Who pushed me?” stammered Chet, as he got up spluttering, for some sand had gotten in his mouth. “I’ll have revenge for this—on some one! Who knocked me down?”
“It was the strong perfumery on your handkerchief,” suggested Andy. “It went to your head, Chet.”
“It was you, Bob Trent; you did it!” yelled the dude, making a rush for the captain’s son. “I’ll give you a thrashing for this!”
CHAPTER VII
A LIVELY CARGO
“Hold on there, Chet!” cried Andy, as he saw Bob about to suffer for the trick he himself had played. The dude had hauled back his fist to strike the captain’s son, who put himself in a position of defense.
“You can’t stop me!” yelled Chet, making rapid motions with his fists. Bob Trent shrank back.