The farmer gulped once or twice. The Adam's apple in his throat went up and down. Clearly he was struggling with himself. "I--I--you----" he began. "Tut! Tut!" chided Tom. "You'd better go get the money. We can't wait all day." "I--er--I----" The farmer seemed at a loss for words. Then, turning on his heel, he started toward the house. He was beaten. "I--I'll get it," he flung back over his shoulder. "And then I'll swear out warrants for your arrest. You're trespassers, that's what you are. I'll fix you!" "Trespassers? Oh, no," returned Andy, sweetly. "We're only good Samaritans. Perhaps you may have read of them in a certain book. Also we are acting as the attorneys for this gentleman, in collecting a debt due him. We are his counsel, and the law allows a man to have his counsel present at a hearing. I hardly think an action in trespass would lie against us, Mr. Snad; so don't put yourself out about it." "That's the stuff!" "Good for you, Andy!" "Say, you got his number all right!" Thus Andy's chums called to him laughingly as the farmer went into the house. CHAPTER III AN UNPLEASANT PROSPECT "Say, I can't tell how much obliged to you I am," impulsively exclaimed the young fellow with his arm in a sling. "That--that----" "He's a brute, that's what he is!" broke out Andy. "Don't be afraid to call him one." "He sure is," came from Tom. "I just wish he'd rough it up a bit. I wouldn't have asked anything better than to take and roll him around his own barnyard. Talk about tackling a fellow on the gridiron--Oh me! Oh my!" "It was mighty nice of you boys to take my part," went on the young fellow. "I'm not feeling very well. He's worked me like a horse since I've been here, and that, on top of spraining my arm, sort of took the tucker out of me. Then, when he came at me with the whip, just because I said I couldn't work any more----" "There, never mind. Don't think about it," advised Chet, seeing that the youth was greatly affected. "Do you live around here?" asked Andy. "Well, I don't live much of anywhere," was the reply. "I'm a sort of Jack-of-all-trades. My name is Lincoln Bardon--Link, I'm generally called. I work mostly at farming, but I'll never work for Amos Snad again. He's too hard." "Where are you going after you leave here?" asked Frank Newton. "Oh, I've got a friend who works on a farm over in Cherry Hollow. I can go there and get a place. The farming season is on now, and there's lots of help wanted. But I sure am much obliged to you for helping me get my money. I've earned it and I need it. That mowing machine was broken when he had me take it out of the shed." "How'd he come to use the whip?" asked Andy. "It was when I came back with the team, and said I couldn't work any more on account of my arm. He has a lot of work to do," explained Link, "and he ought to keep two men. Instead, he tries to get along with one, and works him like a slave. I'm glad I'm going to quit."