“I guess we had better bind and gag ’em and throw ’em into the lake,” suggested Gif, with a wink at his chums.
“No, no! Don’t do anything like that!” cried Codfish, more frightened than ever. “Let me alone! Please!”
“Look here, Codfish, what did you and your bunch do with our things?” demanded Randy.
“Don’t tell ’em anything,” snarled Wesley. “Keep your mouth shut.”
“Oh, so that’s what you intend to do, is it?” came from Spouter. “How do you like that?” and he suddenly caught Wesley by the collar and laid him out flat on the bed. “Let’s strip ’em, boys, and give ’em the licking they deserve!”
“Don’t you touch me! Don’t you dare! I’ll have you arrested!” howled Wesley, and now he seemed to be as much frightened as Codfish. He was a coward at heart, and that was one reason he had sought the companionship of such a sneak as Stowell.
“I’ve got it!” declared Jack. “We’ll bind and gag ’em and take ’em down to the gymnasium. There we’ll give ’em a good lashing with a horsewhip and then throw ’em both into the lake. That will give ’em something to remember us by,” and he winked suggestively at his cousins and his chums.
“That’s the talk!” said Randy, taking up the cue. “We’ll give ’em the licking of their lives.”
“Sure thing!” declared Fred. “And we’ll tie ’em in potato sacks before we heave ’em overboard.”
“They both wanted to sleep—we’ll let them sleep with the fishes for a while,” declared Spouter.