“But what do you suppose he did with Don?” inquired Jones.
“I really believe that he shipped him off on some vessel; and if he did—by gracious, Lester, you had better go home.”
“That’s just what I want to do,” whined Lester, who had already made up his mind that he would not pass another night in Maryland, if there were any way for him to get out of it.
“Because, if you stay here, you are bound to get into trouble,” continued Enoch. “If you don’t pay Barr, he will give you away to the police——”
“No!” gasped Lester.
“Yes, he will. I know him and you don’t. General Gordon, of course, will offer a big reward, and Barr will do his best to earn it. If you hand over the money he demands——”
“But how can I?” cried Lester, who was so nearly overcome with terror, that he trembled in every limb. “What excuse can I make to my father for asking him for so large a sum of money?”
“You can’t pay it, and you mustn’t ask him for it; that much is settled; but you can go home, and my advice to you is to do it at once. If you should pay Barr the smallest amount, he would have a hold on you that he wouldn’t be slow to make use of. I tell you, fellows, this thing has opened my eyes, and from this time out I turn over a new leaf and mend my ways,” said Enoch, snatching up one of the cushions and banging the rail with it. “No more mean tricks do I engage in. I’ve got two years more at school, and I am going back next term to make up for misspent time. That’s a word with a bark on it.”
“And just the minute my back is turned, you will blow on me, will you?” cried Lester. “I haven’t done anything the law can take hold of me for.”
“I know you haven’t, but if Barr takes it into his head to do so, he can make the country about here unpleasantly warm for you, all the same. If you go home, he may think it to his best interests to keep still; and if he does, no one will ever suspect that you put such an idea into his mind. I shall not say a word about it, and neither will Jones.”