"Come on," said the man, "you'd better give in. I've got you fair." x "Come a bit further," said George, now on the end of the branch.
The second man, who had been manœuvring by a different route, now appeared and made a grab at George's collar. The first man, fearful of losing his prize, did the same. George clutched at both, and the next moment, with a mighty crack, the branch gave way, and the three went tumbling down through the lower branches.
The first man picked himself up and rubbed his leg; the second man swore, gazed ruefully at a tear in his trousers, and sucked a bleeding thumb; George lay quite still.
The three men from Fairbrothers' ran forward.
"Here you are!" said one of the labourers. "Now, where's the five pound?"
"Hold on!" said the second man. "We brought him down together! That's half each!"
Gray looked down at the still form of his late master and turned white. George was lying just as he had fallen, with blood trickling from a scratch across the forehead.
"You've done something now!" said Gray. "You've killed him!"
"What!" said the first man in a whisper.
"He's done for!" said Gray, anxious to avoid paying now that affairs had taken a serious turn.