"You shut up I." roared Tad Sobber, and exhibited some of the brutality that had made him so hated at Putnam Hall by raising his foot and kicking Sam in the side.
"Stop!" cried the youngest Rover, in pain. "What a brute you are!"
"Leave my brother alone!" came from Tom.
"A fine coward you are, to kick him when he is a prisoner! You wouldn't dare to try it if he was free."
"I wouldn't, eh? I want you to understand I'm not afraid of anybody," blustered Tad. "I am—"
"Tad, be quiet," cried his uncle. "I am fully capable of managing this affair. Don't kick him again."
"Yes, but look here, Uncle Sid, they—"
"I will take care of things," cried Sid Merrick, and so sharply that his nephew at once subsided. But on the sly he shook his fist at both Tom and Sam.
"Maybe we had better make sure that nobody else is around," suggested
Shelley, who had been Merrick's best aide in the capture.
"All right, look around if you want to," was Merrick's reply. "I am pretty certain these boys are alone here—although more persons from the steam yacht may be ashore."