Hen saw the other chums pressing about him threateningly, so he almost blubbered:
"Said he'd give me a dollar if I did the trick right."
"So there was a trick?" cried Dick quickly; then added ironically: "Hen, you ought never to tell lies. You don't do it skilfully. You let out the truth, despite yourself. You've admitted that you've been hired to work against us—to help spoil our peace and comfort. Now, you've got to tell us all the rest of it, or you'll have to take the consequences!"
"Say, don't be mean with a feller!" pleaded Dutcher, ready to snivel.
"We're not mean with you," Dick insisted. "We've a right to protect ourselves, and we're going to do it. Besides, you joined us, and now you've got to be one of us and tell us the whole scheme against us."
"I didn't join you!"
"Do you belong to Fred Ripley's crowd, then? If so, you'd better join that choice gang! Grab hold of him, fellows!"
Dave Darrin and Tom Reade gripped Hen, on either side, with great heartiness. Dan Dalzell ran to unbar the door, after accomplishing which he turned to view what might follow.
"Are you going to tell us, Hen, what Ripley and his crew are plotting against us?" Dick insisted once more.
"They were going to come down here to-night," confessed Hen.