"He must have felt awfully small, for you to be so generous after the way he acted," was Laura's comment.
"Maybe it will be a lesson to him, to do what is square in the future," said Belle.
They were soon in the town of Lester, and there stopped at the main drug store, where the boys treated the girls to ice-cream "sundaes," as they are sometimes called. Then they took a round-about way back to Crumville, arriving there at sundown.
"Oh, what a nice day we have had, in spite of the drawbacks!" cried Jessie, dancing into the mansion.
"Drawbacks?" queried her mother. "Did you get a puncture, or a breakdown?"
"Oh, no; nothing happened to the cars," answered the curly-haired miss. And then she turned to the boys, to let them tell the story. While they were doing this, Mr. Wadsworth came in, followed by Dave's father and his uncle, and Caspar Potts.
"That is just on a par with Aaron Poole's actions in general," said Mr. Wadsworth. "He would claim the earth, if he dared. I think the other property owners along that road will have something to say if he tries to close it up."
"I heard about the new paper company this morning," said Dave's father. "Some of the stockholders are not in sympathy with the way Mr. Poole is managing affairs, and they talk of putting him out."
"I hope they do put him out!" cried Dave. "He tries to carry things with too high a hand altogether."
"I am glad people are finding out what sort of folks the Pooles are," said Caspar Potts. He had not forgotten how in the past Aaron Poole had driven him to the wall, and tried to get his little farm away from him.