“I won’t put down my gun!” cried Jack. “And if you molest me, you will regret it, mark my words!”
“We are respectable boys from Rudskill, and you have no right to come here and threaten us,” added Andy.
“We’ll see,” growled the farmer. “What do you say?” he went on to his companions. “Shall we take ’em to Bagsville and have ’em up before Squire Riggins?”
“Thet’s the talk!”
“It will be a darn good lesson to other chicken thieves!”
“Sure, Seth; take ’em up!”
“Thet settles it, then, along yeou go, every one. Yeou kin do with yeour traps ez yeou please.”
“I’ll not budge a step!” replied Harry, firmly.
“Nor I! Nor I!” burst out the other boys.
“We’ll see!” howled the leading farmer, his face growing dark with ill-suppressed wrath. “You can’t defy the laws of the country, see if you can!”