that's all!
Kim erlong, Bill, we quits cold right here, see?"

With that they stalked moodily away, and the boys seemed able to draw
freer breaths after their departure. Max stood ready to carry out his
threat should the men attempt to bombard the camp with stones, and for
some little time he kept Bandy-legs standing there, knife in hand,
ready to sever the rope that kept Bose from his liberty.

There was no need, it turned out. The two men had realized that they
were in no condition to carry matters to a point of open hostilities
with those who had fed them and given them a helping hand; and perhaps
that vague threat of detaining them there until the coming of the
officers may have added to their desire to "shake the dust of that
region from their shoes," as Bandy-legs expressed it, although Toby
told him he would have a pretty hard time finding anything like dust in
those days of rain-storms and floods.

It took a long time to reassure the girls, and coax them to try and
sleep again. As for Max he was determined to keep awake, and on guard
until dawn arrived; which in fact was exactly what he did.

CHAPTER XVI

AFTER THE FLOOD--CONCLUSION

"Well, it's come morning at last, and for one I'm right glad to see
it," and Bandy-legs stretched himself, with numerous yawns, while
making this remark.

Max admitted that he felt pretty happy himself to see the day break in
the far east, with a prospect for the sun appearing speedily, since the
clouds had taken wings and vanished while darkness lay upon the land.

Everybody was soon moving around, and the girls insisted that breakfast
should be given over entirely to their charge.

"From what you've told us," Bessie French declared, when there were
some plaintive murmurs on the part of Bandy-legs and Max to the effect
that they wished to save their guests from all hard work, "we expect
that you find plenty of times to do all the cooking that's good for
you. Now it isn't often that you have girls in camp to show you what
they know about these things; so I think you'd better tell us to do
just as we feel like; and that's going to be take charge of the meals
as long as we're together."

Of course secretly Max and Bandy-legs were just as well pleased as
anything could be over this dictum from the fair ones; they simply
wanted to do their duty, and show that they meant right.

Well, that breakfast was certainly the finest the boys had ever eaten
while in the wo