though he
knew pretty well how to take care of himself.

The bulldog had kept so quiet all this time that the men did not pay
much attention to him, lying there peacefully. They probably
calculated that if things came down to an actual show of hands it would
mean two boys apiece; and surely they should be equal to overcoming
such opposition.

"Hain't that same kinder rough on us, young feller?" demanded the hobo
or escaped jailbird, whichever the taller man might be. "Wot yer gives
us only makes us hungrier'n 'ever. Wisht you'd look 'round an' see if
yer cain't skeer up somethin' more in the line o' grub. Then we'll
stretch out here nigh yer fire, an' git some sleep, 'cause we needs the
same right bad."

"You've had all we can let go," said Max; "and as your room is better
than your company, perhaps you'll feel like moving on somewhere else
for the night. If it happens that you've no matches to make a fire to
keep warm by, there's part of a box for you," and he coolly tossed a
safety-match box toward the taller man, one of a number he had found on
a shelf in Mrs. Jacobus' cabin.

Somehow his defiant words caused the men to turn and look dubiously at
each other. They hardly knew what to expect. Could that shack shelter
several men besides the girls whose frightened faces they could see
peeping out? There did not seem to be any chance of that being the
case, both decided immediately. After exchanging a few muttered
sentences the two men began to slowly gain their feet.

Shack Beggs and Toby also scrambled erect, holding their cudgels behind
them prepared for work. Those men looked dangerous; they would not be
willing to leave that comfortable camp at the word of a boy, a mere
stripling, at least not until the conditions began to appear more
threatening than at present.

Max was watching their every action. He had nerved himself for the
crisis, and did not mean to be caught napping. Should either of the
men show a sudden disposition to leap toward them Max was ready to
produce his weapon, and threaten dire consequences. The hand that had
not quivered when that huge mastiff was in the act of attacking them
would not be apt to betray Max now, as these rascals would discover to
their cost.

"That's kind in yer, kid, amakin' us a present o' matches when we ain't
got nary a one," remarked the spokesman of the pair, as he turned
toward Max, and took a step that way.

"Hold on, don't come any closer!" warn