"They've got their nerve with them, after the way they treated us!" growled Jack.
"What do you fellows want around here?" demanded Nappy coolly, as he came closer.
"I'll bet they want to see how we are getting along," put in Slugger Brown. He was puffing away at a briar-root pipe, trying his best to look mannish.
"See here, you fellows, what did you mean by your actions the night you got us to walk out to that storehouse?" demanded Jack.
"That wasn't our fault," broke out Nappy hastily. "We weren't responsible for what Gabe Werner did."
"I don't believe Gabe was in it at all!" cried Fred.
"He was too. He got us to go after you, exactly as I told you," protested Nappy.
"But he wasn't there," said Fred. "And it wasn't a boarding house either."
"I don't care. He was there when we left him to find you. And he wanted to see all of you the worst way." Nappy turned to Slugger. "Isn't that right, Slug?"
"It certainly is. He said he would wait there until we got back. In fact, he said his leg hurt him so he couldn't go a step further, and he said he knew the old folks who lived there very well. We didn't know anything more than what he told us."