“I guess I had a right to listen,” was the cool answer. As he spoke, Andy was examining the box in which he had stored the papers. He found things much disarranged, showing that his uncle had gone through the contents during his absence. But the papers were there, and the sight of them caused him to breathe a sigh of relief.
“They sha’n’t have these papers, no matter what happens,” he said to himself, and stuffed the documents into an inside pocket.
“Open thet door!” commanded Josiah Graham, and his voice now sounded harsh and threatening.
“I guess you had better teach that boy manners,” was Mr. A. Q. Hopton’s comment.
“I’ll teach him sumthin’!” answered the old man. “Open thet door, I say, an’ come out here.”
“You want to get those papers,” said Andy. He was wondering what to do next.
“Well, ain’t I your guardeen, an’ ain’t I got a right to ’em?”
“The papers are mine, and I’m not going to give them up,” answered Andy, doggedly. “I don’t like that Mr. Hopton, and he’s not going to get the papers. I’m going to turn them over to a lawyer.”
At these words the real estate man was much disturbed.
“That boy is an imp,” he said, in a low voice. “I’d not let him talk to me that way if I were you.”