"Caught ye, have I?" said the farmer, in a cold, hard voice.
"How do you do, Mr. Marcy," replied Dave, as coolly as he could.
"How do ye do, is it?" roared the farmer. "I'll fix ye, ye villain!" And he started to shake Dave with great violence. He was a strong man and one given to sudden passion.
"Stop!" cried the youth, trying to squirm away. "Stop! What are you doing this for? I have done nothing wrong."
"Then stealin' apples ain't wrong, eh? And stonin' my dogs ain't wrong, eh? And stealin' a chicken, eh?"
"I am not stealing apples, and the only time I stoned one of your dogs was when he ran after me as I was passing on the road. I didn't propose to be bitten."
"Don't tell me, ye young vagabond! I know you boys—a pretty crowd ye be, all o' ye! I'll have the law on ye!" And once again Mike Marcy shook poor Dave.
"What is it, Mike?" came from out of the gloom, and a woman appeared. She was the farmer's wife and as hard-hearted as her husband.
"I've got one o' them schoolboys," answered the man. "Caught him prowlin' around the orchard."
"See here, I have done no wrong, I tell you, and I want you to treat me decently," said Dave. "We came over awhile ago for a kite, that sailed into one of your trees. After we got the kite I discovered that I had lost my watch and I came back for it."