"You must be careful that he doesn't get away," said Dick.
"Just so, lad; I will be. No one ever escaped from me, not much!
Come on, sir!" And he caught Josiah Crabtree by the arm.
"This is awful!" groaned the former teacher. "And right here in
Cedarville, too, where everybody knows me!"
"You should have thought of those things before, Mr. Crabtree," said Dick, his heart softening a little, now that he saw the man was beginning to break down.
"What will my friends, and the profession at large, say?" and
Crabtree shook his head bitterly.
"You have only yourself to blame," put in Tom. He had not forgotten how Crabtree had threatened him but a short while before.
Suddenly the former teacher's last drop of courage seemed to desert him and, deadly pale, he sank on his knees.
"Spare me, boys, spare me! For the sake of my family and my friends, spare me!" he moaned.
"I didn't know you had a family," put in Sam.
"My relatives—my poor, dear, distant relatives," replied Crabtree, hardly aware of what he was saying. "Spare me for their sakes, and I will reward you well."