"And you got it, all right!" shouted Lef, who must have been listening to all that was being said.
"Sure I did; but then three against one showed what cowards you all were," replied Lanky, promptly, and smiling as usual at the recollection.
"Look here, do you mean that you actually sneaked away and tackled Lef while he was with those two chums of his—that you didn't have the sense to take me along to see fair play? Well, you are a caution, I declare! But they say that a little cherub aloft always looks out for fools and innocent babes," remarked Frank, in pretended reproach, though his eyes were twinkling with amusement.
"You're sure complimentary, Frank; the only complaint I've got to make is that you don't specify which class I belong in. But we did have a rough-house time of it down there on the river bank, with not a solitary witness. I did all I could to play the David part, but the Philistines were too much for me. They gave me a warm session, and when finally I caved in they must have trussed me up and bundled me into the boat, for when I opened my peepers I found that we were afloat, and myself lying just like Lef is now."
Frank uttered an exclamation of surprise.
"What an outrage! Carried you off as though they were pirates of the raging Spanish Main, did they? What did they mean to do to you, Lanky?" he burst forth, indignantly.
"Oh! they liked my company so much they didn't want to let me go out of their sight, I reckon. First they sailed down river and landed. Bill went away and came back with some grub, bought with money Lef gave him. They joked me about the hunger cure for indigestion, and never offered me a bite. Then they ran around some more and played a trick on some feller, I guess, because they seemed to be tickled to death about it. I heard 'em mention Frank's name, and had an idea he was mixed up in it somehow."
"They thought so too, but it was only my boat they stole and sunk, believing they had left me on this island to swim ashore; when it was the girls, taking a picture of a bird on its nest, or rather feeding its young," explained Frank.
"That was it, eh? Well, down below a mile or two they went ashore again to build a fire in Cragin's woods on the point. I heard Lef sending the others off, Bill to get some cigarettes in town, and Tony for some gasoline, for they were going to run down the river twenty miles or more, to see a friend and stay over night. They joked some about what they would do to me before kicking me loose; but I wasn't worrying about that a bit. I had my plans all laid by then."
Lanky stopped to indulge in a series of chuckles, after which he went on.