Part 8 (2/2)
”Be careful, Tom!” warned his elder brother. ”He may set a trap for you!
You know he and Sobber are not to be trusted.”
”I've got my eyes open,” answered the fun-loving Rover st.u.r.dily.
With the barrel staves in hand, the three Rover boys advanced further and further into the old mill, going from one room to another.
Occasionally they stumbled over bits of lumber and piles of sawdust, for when the place had been shut down no attempt had been made to clean up.
Even some of the machinery had been left and this was now so rusted that it was practically unfit for use.
”Say, Mr. Crabtree, why don't you show yourself?” called out d.i.c.k. ”Are you afraid?”
”You get out of here!” came the unexpected answer, from a small toolroom, the door to which was split but tightly closed. ”You Rovers have no right on this property!”
The boys recognized the harsh and dictatorial voice of Josiah Crabtree,--less pleasant now than it ever had been. They saw the former teacher glaring at them from the split in the toolroom door.
”Mr. Crabtree, come out here and let us talk to you,” said d.i.c.k, quietly but firmly.
”I don't want to talk to you--I want you to leave these premises,”
snarled the man.
”Why should we leave?” asked Tom.
”Because this is my property.”
”Your property?” cried Sam. ”How so?”
”It was left to me by a distant relative. I won't have you on the place.”
”Mr. Crabtree, do you know that we can have you arrested?” said d.i.c.k, sharply.
”Arrested? What for?”
”For the abduction of Mrs. Stanhope.”
”I didn't abduct her--she went along of her own free will--I can prove it.”
”You know that statement is false. You carried her off against her will--and did what you could to hypnotize her into marrying you. Mr.
Crabtree, you are a villain, and you ought to be returned to the prison from which you came.”
”Don't you dare to talk to me like that! Don't you dare!” fairly shrieked Josiah Crabtree. ”I know my rights, and some day I'll have the law on you boys! You are responsible for my being sent to prison, and but for you Mrs. Stanhope would have married me long ago. Now I want you to leave these premises, and don't you dare to come back.”
”Is Tad Sobber with you?” asked Tom.
”I am not here to answer questions, Tom Rover. I want to leave, and at once.”
”Mr. Crabtree, you listen to me,” said d.i.c.k, stepping closer to the crack in the door. ”We are not afraid of you, and we want you and Tad Sobber to know it. Were it not for the unpleasant publicity for Mrs.
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