"Not just now," replied Dorothy, coolly, for she saw that she was quite able to hold him, and that he was really only a very slight young boy. "I am going to have a try at your game," she added, smiling at her versatility.
The boy almost fell under the horse, but Cricket was so well trained that he did not attempt to go beyond Dorothy's orders.
"Steady, Cricket!" she said softly. "Now young man," to her prisoner, "I am going to do something very original. I am going to tie you to that pretty tree."
"You are not!" he yelled, but she had her whip in her hand and she raised it threateningly.
"I don't want to strike you," she said, "but you know prisoners must obey. Just step over there a foot or two!"
There was such authority in her voice that the boy looked up frightened.
"Don't hit me," he pleaded, "and I'll go!"
This was more than Dorothy expected, and as the lad moved to obey, she raised, with her foot, the rope he had dropped with his disguise, and grasped it in her hand with the riding crop.
"You see school girls learn a lot about 'team work,'" she said. "We have to do it in all sorts of games."
"What are you going to do with me?" asked the boy, who actually seemed more interested than frightened.