afraid to
call him one."

"He sure is," came from Tom. "I just wish he'd rough it up a bit. I
wouldn't have asked anything better than to take and roll him around his
own barnyard. Talk about tackling a fellow on the gridiron--Oh me! Oh
my!"

"It was mighty nice of you boys to take my part," went on the young
fellow. "I'm not feeling very well. He's worked me like a horse since
I've been here, and that, on top of spraining my arm, sort of took the
tucker out of me. Then, when he came at me with the whip, just because I
said I couldn't work any more----"

"There, never mind. Don't think about it," advised Chet, seeing that the
youth was greatly affected.

"Do you live around here?" asked Andy.

"Well, I don't live much of anywhere," was the reply. "I'm a sort of
Jack-of-all-trades. My name is Lincoln Bardon--Link, I'm generally
called. I work mostly at farming, but I'll never work for Amos Snad
again. He's too hard."

"Where are you going after you leave here?" asked Frank Newton.

"Oh, I've got a friend who works on a farm over in Cherry Hollow. I can
go there and get a place. The farming season is on now, and there's lots
of help wanted. But I sure am much obliged to you for helping me get my
money. I've earned it and I need it. That mowing machine was broken when
he had me take it out of the shed."

"How'd he come to use the whip?" asked Andy.

"It was when I came back with the team, and said I couldn't work any
more on account of my arm. He has a lot of work to do," explained Link,
"and he ought to keep two men. Instead, he tries to get along with one,
and works him like a slave. I'm glad I'm going to quit."

"When I said my arm was hurt he didn't believe me. I insisted. One word
led to another and he came at me with the lash. Then you boys jumped in.
I can't thank you enough."

"That's all right," said Tom. "We were glad to do it. I like a good
scrap!"

And to do him justice, he did--a good, clean, manly "scrap."

"I wonder if he will bring that money?" remarked Ben Snow. "He's gone a
long time."

"Oh, he keeps it hidden away in an old boot," replied Link. "He'll have
to dig it out. But don't let me detain you."

"We like the fun," spoke Andy. "We'll stick around for a while yet."

And, while the boys are thus "sticking around," may I be permitted to
introduce them more formally to you, and speak just a word about them?

With their names I think you are already familiar. Andy Blair was a
tall,