"Thank you, sir," answered Robert coolly; "but at present I find it more agreeable up here."
"Come down here, and I'll give you the worst thrashing you ever had!"
"Your intentions are very kind, but the inducement isn't sufficient."
"If I hadn't fallen just as I did, I'd have had you by this time."
"That's just what I thought when I put the stick between your legs," called out Charlie Davis from another tree.
It may seem singular, but until then Tarbox had not understood how he came to fall. He had an idea that he had tripped over the root of a tree.
"Did you do that?" he asked wrathfully, turning to the smaller boy.
"Yes, I did."
"If I could catch you, you wouldn't get out of this wood alive."