"No, no, no," protested Chunky. "I don't want to be shot up again to-day."
"Don't be afraid, little boy," urged Rector. "We are not going to let the man go—-not if I have to fight for it."
"Professor, this fellow thought us Rangers," began Tad.
"Rangers?"
"Yes. He admitted in his questioning of Ned that he thought we were
Rangers, or that we had been employed by the Rangers to run him down.
That is why he sought to kill us."
"But surely you assured him we were not," protested Professor Zepplin.
"Little stock did he take in our assurances," scoffed Ned. "You might as well talk to the wind."
"But what are we going to do with him, boys?"
"I have thought of that," replied Tad. "It is my idea that he is a bad man. He must be, else the Rangers would not be looking for him. He has proved that he is a dangerous customer to be at large—-"
"Yes, he's large, all right," mumbled Stacy. "As I was saying, it seems to me to be our duty to turn him over to the officers of the law."