"Come to think of it," he began, "I don't believe the Lord is altogether to blame fer sich articles that walk on two legs an' call themselves men. He intended that they should be all right, an' gave them their own free will. But seems to me that that critter's ancestors, let the sap run out of the tree, an' there's mighty little left to work with. Zeb was right when he said that all the Social Service in the world won't do more'n elevate a pig into a hog. Jess will come to see that, too, as sure as guns."
"Is Miss Andrews as keen as ever on Social Service?" Royden asked.
"Jist as keen," Abner replied. "But she's got her hands full now with them kids. That's one reason why I'm willin' to keep 'em. Jess an' Belle are mighty interested in 'em, an' that's a great deal to me an' Tildy. But jist look at that feller; he ain't to the barn yit. I wonder how long he intends to hang around. I don't want him, an' I'm dang sure Belle doesn't, either. How de ye s'pose we kin git clear of him?"
"Can't you think of some way?" Royden asked, with a twinkle in his eyes. "If you should behave to him like you did to me the first day we met, I don't believe Billy would remain long."
"I was pretty het up that day I took the gun to ye," Abner acknowledged. "But it didn't work. Ye was too much fer me, all right, an' I ain't ashamed to confess it. Why, most chaps would have hollered, an' made no end of a fuss. But you was dead game, an' that put me off me reckonin'."
Before Royden could reply a yell of terror fell upon their ears. Startled, they both sprang to their feet, and looked anxiously in the direction from which the sound came. And as they did so, they saw Billy coming toward them with great leaps, followed by an animal which they at once recognized as an infuriated bull.
"Good Lord!" Abner ejaculated. "Where in thunder did that critter come from? Why, I know. It's Pete Slocum's. He said he was goin' to put it on the island, as he couldn't keep it in the pasture. I fergot all about it, blamed if I didn't."
"Billy will be killed," Royden exclaimed, much excited.
"Not at the rate he's runnin' now," was the reply. "Did ye ever see anythin' like it? Why, the grass must be hot under his feet. I didn't know he had sich speed aboard. Look at that fer jumps! An' listen to his yells. He'll have lockjaw if he isn't keerful."
It certainly was a wild run Billy was making, with the bull in close pursuit. Notwithstanding Abner's apparent amusement, he was really concerned, and was about to rush forward, though he was sure he could not reach the youth in time to be of any assistance, as he had no weapon with which to fight the bull. He was on the point of starting, anyway, when he noticed that Billy was making straight for a clump of birch trees standing low on the bank of the island.