"What were you huntin' the cache for, then? Don't lie, you little rat, or I'll twist your neck off!"
The fellow seemed quite capable of executing the threat literally, as he again shook Jamie savagely.
"I—aint'—lyin'—about—un, sir!" pleaded Jamie between the shakes. "I were—just—goin'—to—look—at un, and—if—'tweren't—Lem Horn's silver fox—I weren't—goin' to touch un!"
"Well, 'tain't Lem Horn's silver fox. It's things of our'n! Do you hear that? 'Tain't Lem Horn's silver, it's our'n what's in that there bag! You leave our things be! Do you hear what I'm sayin'? You and your gang keep away from our cache, and don't go foolin' with anything you don't know anything about! Do you hear?" The man gave Jamie another shake.
"I—I didn't know! We—we just suspicioned 'twere Lem's silver, and I were wantin' to take un back to he," explained Jamie.
"You heard what I said? 'Tain't Lem Horn's silver! You hear that, don't you?"
"Aye, sir, I saw what you was takin' out of the bag, and 'tweren't Lem Horn's silver. 'Twere something to drink out of a bottle. I sees you drinkin' it."
"Let the kid go, Bill," laughed Hank, who until now had kept silent.
"We were all thinkin' 'twere Lem's silver. I'll tell un 'twere not the silver but somethin' else that you takes from the Captain that you were hidin' in the cache," said Jamie hopefully.
"You goin' to tell that! You heard what we said, and you goin' to blab it?" the man roared in a rage.