"To flog you within an inch of your life!" said the tramp savagely. "Just get out of the wagon, and we will proceed to business!" As he spoke he seized the bridle, and Gerald felt that the crisis had come. He drew the whistle from his pocket, and blew a loud blast upon it. Saul Gridley was startled by the whistle. What did it mean? He decided that it was only a ruse, intended to frighten him. "None of your fooling!" he exclaimed, angrily. "It won't do any good. Get down from the wagon immediately!" "Thank you. I would rather not," said Gerald, composedly. "Then, my boy, I will pull you down!" He started to carry out his threat, when something happened that really startled him. A bullet whizzed by his ear. "What!" he began, in a startled tone, but the sentence was not finished, for, darting from a covert where he had been concealed, Louis Bean made his appearance on the scene. Saul Gridley stared at him with dazed countenance. "What are you about there, you rascal?" demanded Bean, sternly. Saul Gridley was a man who could act the bully with one inferior to himself in strength, but he was a coward in the presence of his physical superior. "Why did you fire at me?" he asked, nervously. "You might have killed me!" "I don't think any one would have missed you. But you have not answered my question. What were you doing?" "I—I was just having a little talk with the boy," he answered, stammering. "Oh, that is all, is it?" "Yes." "What did he say to you, Gerald?" "He ordered me to get out of the wagon, and threatened to flog me within an inch of my life." "That is what you call having a little talk," said Bean. "What have you to say to this?" "The boy must have misunderstood me," stammered Gridley. "I don't mean that you shall misunderstand me! You attempted to rob this boy a few hours ago." "I did not rob him. Ask him if I did." "No; because he was too sharp for you. What is your name?" "Saul Gridley," answered the tramp, reluctantly. "How long have you been in this neighborhood?" "Two days." "It is not a healthy neighborhood for a man in your line of business. If your attempt at robbery should become known in Campville, you would probably be strung up without delay. However, don't let me interfere with your plans. You want to flog the boy. Well, proceed with your flogging!" "That was only a joke," said Saul Gridley, beginning to look nervous and apprehensive. "Then suppose you try to flog me. I offer myself in the place of the boy." "I don't care to undertake it." "That is where you are wise. You would find it the biggest contract you ever undertook. Gerald, what——" "Let me go!" said Saul, nervously. "I think I had better take you to Campville in the wagon." "No, no—they would kill me!" ejaculated Saul, livid with fear. "I will leave it to the boy. What shall I do with this man?" "Let him go, if he will promise to leave the neighborhood at once." "You hear? Will you agree to that?" "Yes," was the eager answer.