"For cripes' sake," muttered Meshackatee, "we must have caught a preacher." And then he raised his voice.
"It's all right, boys!" he bellowed. "Come on in and turn us loose. He's nothing but a Christian gentleman."
The stone against the doorway was thrown back with a thud and the Scarboroughs stepped in again, grinning.
THE NEUTRALS
It was the evident purpose of the Scarboroughs to gloss over their misdemeanors by an affectation of jovial good-humor, but the victim of the jest sat back with narrowed eyes while he glanced from them to Meshackatee.
"Oh, I see," he said, with a mirthless smile, "this is supposed to be a joke."
"That's the idea," responded Meshackatee, "but it didn't work out. We thought all the time you was a Bassett."