Mr. Brown stopped suddenly, looked down toward his orchard and cried:
"There he is again! That pesky apple boy! I'll get him this time, and I'll teach him to steal my fruit! Hi there, you pesky apple boy!" he shouted, as he leaped from his chair and started on a run toward the orchard.
CHAPTER XII
OFFERING HELP
Russ, Rose, Laddie, and Vi, who had been sitting in chairs on the porch near Mr. Brown, listening to him talk about the uncertainties of an automobile, also jumped up as the boarding-house keeper cried out and left his seat. Russ looked in the direction the farmer pointed and saw, amid the trees in the apple orchard, a boy about his own size running as fast as he could run toward a fence. And, as the boy ran, apples dropped from his pockets to the grass.
"Hi there, stop, you pesky apple-taker of a boy!" yelled Mr. Brown. "What do you mean by coming into my orchard and taking my apples!"
The boy said never a word, but ran all the faster toward the fence.
"Come on!" called Russ to Rose. "Let's go and see if he catches him!"
Laddie and Vi followed their older brother and sister down off the porch, and ran after Mr. Brown into the apple orchard, which was not far from the house.
"What's the matter, children?" cried Mrs. Brown, coming from her kitchen where she was getting dinner ready. "Are you running away?"