“Come down from thar!” shouted the man, shaking his ax at us, “If I get my hands on you, I’ll—I’ll—”
He finished the sentence with an oath.
“If angry, count fifty before you speak; if very angry, count a hundred,” said my companion, in a tone of voice that must have aggravated Luke to the very last degree. “That’s good advice, and I suggest that you act upon it; but whatever you do, skip those hard words. Don’t swear. Take breath, and begin again. Didn’t I tell you that I would be even with you for the little tricks you have played upon me? You see I have the money,” he added, holding the valise up to the view of the outlaw crew. “It has been in your possession for the last time. I am going to send it back to my uncle.”
“I’ll bet a hoss you don’t!” retorted Luke, his face brightening as if he had discovered a way out of the difficulty. “I’ll give you jest one more chance. If you will give up the money, you can go off about your business, an’ nobody shan’t trouble you; if you won’t do that, I’ll fetch you down from thar in a way you don’t think of. Let’s hear from you.”
“Now, friend Redman, do you see any thing so very green in our eyes?” asked Tom, in reply. “You surely do not imagine that we will put ourselves in your clutches again, do you? We are a trifle too sharp for that. If it’s all the same to you, we’ll stay here.”
“Wal, you shan’t stay thar, nuther,” roared Luke. “Do you know how I’ll get you outen thar? I’ll burn you out, that’s what I’ll do. It won’t be no trouble in the world to set fire to this cabin. The wind blows your way, an’ it’ll soon get so hot up thar that you’ll be glad to come out. What do you say now?”
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN UNEXPECTED DELIVERANCE.
“Yes, sir,” said Luke Redman, who seemed to grow more and more elated the longer he thought of his new idea, “that’s the way I’ll bring you down from thar. Now, will you give up the money? I promise that you can go whar you please, an’ nobody shan’t bother you.”
“What’s the promise of a man like you worth?” I inquired. “I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw a church-house.”
“Take your time, an’ think it over,” said Luke; “but b’ar one thing in mind while you are about it, an’ that is, that I mean all I say.”