"Yes," agreed Nat, determined not to show them that he was alarmed by his predicament, "my dead father gave me that."
"Well, just hand it over."
"What?"
Nat's face flushed angrily. His temper began to rise too.
"Come on, hand it over and don't be all night about it," ordered Al.
Nat jumped to his feet.
His fists were clenched ready for action. It seemed clear that if they were going to take the watch from him while he had strength to protect himself that they had a tough job in front of them. But an unexpected interruption occurred. It came from Ed. Dayton.
"See here, Al.," he growled, "don't get too previous. I reckon the colonel can dispose of the watch as he sees fit. All such goes to him first you know, so as to avoid disputes."
"Don't see where you come in to run this thing," muttered Al., but nevertheless he subsided into silence.
All this time Nat's mind had been working feverishly. But cast about as he would he could not hit on a plan of escape.