Frank fell into a defensive attitude, and Bunker swung the club aloft, starting to make a spring. “Stop!” The word rang out like a shot. It came from the lips of Bart Hodge, who was standing just behind Frank, having picked a small rifle out of the canoe. The weapon was at Bart’s shoulder, and its muzzle covered Bunker. “Stop!” repeated Hodge. “If you make another move, I’ll send a twenty-two into your head! It won’t make a large hole, but it will do some damage, even to a wooden head, like yours.” Bunker halted, for he saw that Hodge was in deadly earnest, and the rifle, small though it was, was not exactly pleasant to look upon just then. “You fool!” panted the man. “You wouldn’t dare!” “Oh, yes, I would!” grated Hodge. “I’d like to do it! It would give me great satisfaction, but I thought it best to give you fair warning first. Drop that club!” Bunker hesitated. “Drop it!” flashed Bart. “Drop it, or I’ll drop you!” The man let the club fall on the sand, and then he laughed. “Well, you chaps have more sand than I thought,” he said. “I was trying you—that’s all. Of course, I didn’t mean to do you any harm.” “Oh! of course not,” said Merriwell, with sarcasm. “You are one of the most harmless chaps in the world.” “Don’t think we’re fools,” snapped Hodge. “We stopped your little game, that’s all. Now, git.” “Yes, go,” cried Frank. “Where?” “Anywhere.” “But the boat—Welch——” “The boat is all right. Take a walk along the shore—lively. Don’t turn round till you are out of range of this rifle, for you may encounter a bullet if you do. That’s all. Go on!” “But—but——” “There are no buts about it. Go this instant, or Hodge will salt you. Get a move on!” The man turned about and walked away. “Now,” said Frank, speaking to Welch, “I advise you to have nothing more to do with that chap. He’ll get you into some bad scrape if you do. You are lucky to get off this time so easily. I have no particular grudge against you, even though you did want to thump me for dancing with a certain young lady at Camp Benson yesterday. But don’t monkey round me in the future, for I don’t always overlook things this way. That’s all.” Hodge had pushed the canoe into the water, and now they entered it and pushed off from the shore. “It’s lucky I brought this rifle along,” said Hodge, as he placed it in the bow and picked up his paddle. “I had forgotten you had it,” confessed Frank. “It did come in handy, that is a fact.” By the time Bunker knew what had happened behind him, they were a long distance from the shore, skimming swiftly away. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXI WAKING UP HANS. A column of blue smoke was rising above the trees on Sandy Point as the canoe containing Merriwell and Hodge drew up to the wide beach, on which lay three more inverted canoes.