He felt that his liberty came first and that the time for questioning Hank would come later.
“Sure, I’ll let you out,” responded Hank, “but how under the sun did you get in there?”
“I was shoved in here and then the door was locked.”
“Who by?”
“Let me out first. I’ll tell you that later.”
“All right. The key is in the padlock. I’ll have you out in a jiffy.”
Hank’s behavior puzzled Joe. He did not appear to be belligerent or threatening. On the contrary, he seemed to be only too anxious to do a good turn to another youth in distress.
“Well, this beats rooster fighting!” exclaimed Hank, as Joe stepped out into the room. “You surely couldn’t have locked yourself in there. How did you happen to get in such a fix?”
“I’ll tell you all about that later,” said Joe hurriedly; “but I want to thank you, Hank Harley, for what you’ve done for me. It’s a big favor and I’m grateful for it.”
“That’s all right,” murmured Hank rather shamefacedly, “I reckon it was up to me to do something for you fellows after the other day’s work.”