"Down in the barn. Look out, or it may go off," added Tom, as he held out the weapons, thinking Hans would draw back in alarm.
Instead, however, the German boy took the pistol and of a sudden pointed it at Tom's head.
"Now you tance!" he cried abruptly. "Tance, or I vos shoot you full of holes!"
"Hi, Tom; he's got the best of you now!" cried Frank from behind the bushes.
"You can't make me dance, Hans," returned Tom. "That old rusty iron hasn't been loaded for years."
"It ton't vos no goot? No. Maybe you vos only fool me."
"Pull the trigger and see," answered Tom coolly.
He had scarcely spoken when Hans Mueller did as advised. A tremendous report followed, and when the smoke cleared away the boys in the bushes were horrified to see that the rusty pistol had been shattered into a thousand pieces and that both Tom and Hans lay on their backs in the road, their faces covered with blood.