James Talbot got down from the tree cautiously, eyeing the dog askance.
"Now let us get away from here at once," he said nervously.
"Very well, sir."
They took the road for home, the dog making no hostile demonstrations.
"I—I was always afraid of dogs," said Talbot, half ashamed. "If it had been a man I wouldn't have cared." And then he began to tell Robert how he had once frightened a burglar from the house where he was lodging; but Robert didn't believe him. He felt contempt for his step-father as a coward.
CHAPTER III.
THE LITTLE PLOT AGAINST ROBERT.