“Hand it over.”
“It doesn’t belong to me.”
“We’ll take care of it for the owner.”
“Here it is. Be careful how you handle it, for it’s loaded. It might hit my fat friend there.”
The Dutchman began to kick at this suggestion.
“Take care, Mr. Robber,” he exclaimed. “It might go off all at once, and that would be an end of Johann Schmidt.”
“Oh, never mind, mein herr,” said Tom. “There are plenty of John Schmidts in the world. One more or less wouldn’t make much difference.”
“It would make much difference to me,” said Johann sensibly, “and mein Katrine and the kinder.”
“Well, what next?” asked Gates. “Can we go on?”
“No, you must go with us. First, get down from the wagon.”