"I'm certain of it, for one talk with him is bound to convince you he isn't a thief."
The superintendent remained silent several moments, and it seemed very much as if this second conversation with Joe had caused a change of opinion.
"Very well," he said finally, "I will think the matter over. Shall you be here in the morning?"
"I'm goin' to leave Farley's as soon as I get a bite to eat, an' it ain't likely I'll be back 'till Fred can come with me."
Mr. Wright arose to intimate that the interview was at an end, and Joe left the store with a gesture of defiance and anger toward the cashier.
While all this was taking place Fred occupied anything rather than an enviable position.
When the march was begun he found it extremely difficult to make his way through the woods, loaded down as he was and with one arm tied to his side; but Gus had no mercy. At every opportunity he spurred the prisoner on, using a stout stick for the purpose, and more than once was Fred on the point of open rebellion.
He felt confident the boys would not dare do more than give him a cruel flogging, after which they must leave him behind; but this would be to lose sight of the thieves, and almost anything was preferable to being thus defeated in his purpose.
"I'll stick it out," he said to himself, "and wait for the time when I can tell the story to some one who will help make them prisoners."
During an hour the boys traveled straight ahead, and then Gus insisted upon a halt.