“I see you didn’t let them, Bill,” suggested Tom.
“Not I. Both barrels of the shotgun were loaded to the muzzle with pepper and salt. Just as they got under the tree I let both triggers go. It took them around the knees.”
“I hope you didn’t cripple them,” said Tom.
“Oh, they could walk,” replied Bill with a guffaw,—“just walk. I understand that Aldrich has thrown up his hands and is going to call the game closed.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s going back to Boston some time between now and to-morrow night. I guess Miss Morgan has turned the cold shoulder on him. Well, he’s a good one if he gets away with the eleven dollars and seventy-five cents he owes me for work on the yacht, and good hard work at that.”
Bill Barber hung around for about an hour. He seemed to be glad of an excuse to visit the tower. He was mightily interested in the wireless outfit, and he seemed pleased to be in Tom’s company.
“Bill is not so bad a fellow after all,” remarked Ben, as their visitor departed. “What a shame! that Aldrich, with all the money he brags about, cheating him out of his honest wages.”
“I think Bill is likely to get it,” said Tom. “He is a determined and a dangerous fellow, too, when he is once aroused.”
“I can see that,” replied Ben.