“No,” replied Hiram, shaking his head slowly.
Then he flashed a shrewd look at Dave, full in the face, and bolted out the quick challenge:
“Do you?”
Dave changed color. He walked on a little faster.
“Why, yes, I do, Hiram, to tell you the truth,” he replied.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t like to say, Hiram, till I am sure.”
“Say, Dave Dashaway,” declared Hiram. “I can bet who it is, first shot. It’s Jerry Dawson, and you’ve been through a big tussle, for your face is all marked up and you look peaked and worried. Isn’t it that Dawson fellow, now?”
Dave was silent.
“Say,” stormed Hiram, “if you don’t answer, I’ll start right out and find young Dawson, and knock the truth out of him, along with all the rest of his meanness.”