Now trembling in every muscle, Halstead stole forward toward the Dunstan heir. The floor creaked; he stopped short in great alarm. For Halstead felt certain that, somewhere near at hand, there must be some one intrusted with the responsibility of watching over this young heir.
Master Ted, however, did not turn. Taking heart Tom stole forward as softly as ever Indian trod. Crouching, he was near enough now to reach out and touch the back of young Dunstan.
Of a sudden Halstead made the plunge. He leaped forward with the agility of a panther, fairly yanking Ted Dunstan out of the rocking chair and dropping him softly on the floor beside it.
Taken in this fashion, Master Ted would have let out a lusty yell. Yet the instant he opened his mouth Tom Halstead’s fingers gripped at his throat, shutting off the youngster’s wind.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” whispered Halstead sharply yet half apologetically. “But I’ve got to keep you quiet no matter what I have to do to you.”
Ted’s face betrayed absolute fear as well as unmistakable loathing, as that choking shut off his breath. His mouth opened, his tongue lolling out.
“Now you may breathe again, if you’ll keep quiet,” Tom informed him. “But, remember—I won’t have any noise!”
As soon as he could breathe again panting Ted’s wits also began to clear. He raised one of his feet, as he lay prostrate with Halstead a-top of him, and brought that heel down against the floor. Halstead promptly threw his own body so that Master Ted could not again raise either foot.
“I see that I’ve got to go to extreme measures with you; you don’t understand that I’m deadly in earnest,” panted Tom, finding that this wiry, out-of-door, agile boy of ten could be wonderfully slippery. “Now listen, Ted Dunstan. If you don’t want me to be ugly and to choke you until your senses fade, then prepare to mind me. Now then roll over on your face—and don’t you dare to make any noise doing it.”
A good deal cowed by the fierce glint in Tom’s eyes, Ted almost passively obeyed, though the young skipper was obliged to roll the young man himself.