"Of course, we don't want to do any shooting," cautioned Jack. "We only want to scare them, in case they go too far."
"Jack, you had better be the spokesman for the crowd," remarked Randy. "You go ahead and talk to them, and we'll stand back with our guns."
Still holding his rifle, Jack went forward again, and in a moment more found himself confronted by Asa Lemm and the man who was with him.
"Rover! Is it possible!" exclaimed the former teacher of Colby Hall in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"
"I and my cousins are here to hunt."
"Humph! I didn't know old Stevenson allowed anybody to do hunting around here."
"Maybe they are hunting here without the old man's permission," suggested the other man. "Where is Barney Stevenson?" he demanded of Jack.
"Mr. Stevenson has gone over to Rockville on an errand," was the reply.
By this time Slugger and Nappy had come up, and they stared at Jack and his cousins as if they could not believe the evidences of their senses.
"Well, what do you know about this!" burst out the former bully of Colby Hall.