“You won’t need any boat just yet,” said Stuffer. “You’re to stay here, you know.”
“No! No! don’t leave us here,” cried Paxton. “Let us go and—er—I, for one, will call the whole matter off.”
“Will you really!” said Pepper. “Awfully kind, I’m sure.”
“If you don’t let us go I’ll tell on you,” said Mumps. “The captain won’t stand for anything like this.”
“What have you got to say, Baxter?” demanded Jack.
“You had better let us go,” grumbled the bully. He did not fancy spending a night in the dark woods.
“If we let you go, will you keep your mouth shut?”
“I haven’t said that I would.”
“All right, we’ll leave you tied up.”
“No! No!” came from Mumps, pleadingly. “Please don’t do it! Dan, tell them that you won’t say anything.”