"You know well enough. You cautioned Dr. Thorp against me. Don't deny it, for I know it is true."
"I don't deny it. What happened that night showed that I had good reason."
"Be that as it may," said Kirby with an ugly scowl, "you did a bad thing for yourself. You probably thought you would never meet me again."
Dean was silent, but Dan, whose curiosity was aroused, interposed with an inquiry.
"What are you two talkin' about," he said. "Is this boy a friend or an enemy?"
"He is an enemy of our association," replied Kirby. "I am glad to have him in my power."
"So there is an association?" thought Dean. "These two men belong to it, and Squire Bates is the captain. I shall soon know all about it."
But in the meanwhile the evident hostility of Kirby, reflected in the face of his new acquaintance Dan, was ominous of danger. Dean felt that he would gladly pass the night out in the woods exposed to the night air if he could only get away. But he saw clearly that escape was not at present practicable.
"Have you seen the old woman?" asked Dan, meaning his mother.
"Yes, she told me that she had taken in a kid for the night, but I had no idea it was any one I knew. The old lady wears well, Dan."