"Sure; there ain't any reason why I'd want to run off, if you tell my folks where I am."
Joe could contain himself no longer.
"Do you mean to put his word agin ours?" he cried fiercely.
"Why not?" the cashier asked, softly. "It looks to me very much as if his having been brought here was an outrage."
"If you speak to me agin I'll spoil the whole of your face, you cur! After arestin' a boy for meetin' with an accident in doin' what you oughter done, an' gettin' out warrants for others what couldn't have had a hand in the matter, it's easy to see why you want to believe this little villain's story. When the truth is known you understand blessed well that the town will be too hot to hold you."
"That will do," Mr. Wright cried, sternly. "I shall have no such language used here. Leave this moment, Brace, and when you are more calm we'll discuss the matter."
Joe looked in silence first at the cashier, and then at the superintendent, after which he said to Fred and Skip:
"Come, lads, this is no place for us. We've saved the company's money, an' now are likely to be treated as we were for standin' by 'em at the time of the riot."
With this reminder he walked out of the building followed by both the boys.