“Then get to work and do it.”
“Leave it to me,” said Herring in a mysterious tone. “I’ll fix it all right, never fear.”
The preparation of the next number of the Hilltop Gazette was begun under the direction of Jack Sheldon, however, Dick, Harry and a few more assisting him in the selection and arrangement of articles and the opposition of Herring and his satellites seemed to have ceased.
Jack had made arrangements with the editor of the News to furnish him material for the weekly paper and to give him news as well if there happened to be any and he entered on his duties as contributor under a regular if not large salary.
Meanwhile, Herring took every opportunity to speak disparagingly of Jack, to sneer at everything he said or at every word of praise that was given him and to snub him whenever they met.
Jack cared nothing for this latter treatment and, indeed, seemed not to notice it and as far as snubbing went he never had anything to say to the bully and always passed him by without notice.
It was about ten days after the finding of the money in the creek and Jack was strolling in the woods half way down from the Academy, absorbed in thought and paying little attention to where he went or to the objects about him when he heard a sudden sharp hiss and then:
“Well? Do you like it here?”
He looked up suddenly and saw a man in a rough dark grey suit and wearing a thick black beard, standing close to a tree which had a great hollow on one side.
“You!” he exclaimed, stepping back a pace and straightening himself as if wishing to keep away from something defiling.