in the furnace-house?"

"Yes, mester."

"You cowardly scoundrel! You were in that too, then," cried Uncle Jack,
going down on one knee and seizing the man by the throat and shaking him
till he realised how horribly he was punishing him, when he loosed his
hold.

"Don't kill me, mester. Oh, my wife and bairns!"

"A man with a wife and children, and ready to do such a dastardly act as
that! Here, you shall tell me this, who set you on?"

The man set his teeth fast.

"Who set you on, I say?"

"Nay, mester, I canna tell," groaned Gentles.

"But you shall tell," roared Uncle Jack. "You shall stay here till you
do."

"I can't tell; I weant tell," groaned the man.

"We'll see about that," cried Uncle Jack. "Pah! What a brute I am!
Hold the light, Cob. Piter! You touch him if you dare. Let's see if
we can't get this trap open."

He took hold of it gently, and tried to place it flat upon the stones,
but the poor trapped wretch groaned dismally till he was placed in a
sitting posture with his knee bent, when Piter, having been coerced into
a neutral state, Uncle Jack pressed with all his might upon the spring
while I worked the ring upon it half an inch at a time till the jaws
yawned right open and Gentles' leg was at liberty.

He groaned and was evidently in great pain; but as soon as it was off,
his face was convulsed with passion, and he shook his fists at Uncle
Jack.

"I'll hev the law of ye for this here. I'll hev the law of ye."

"Do," said Uncle Jack, picking up the can of powder; "and I shall bring
this in against you. Let me see. You confessed in the presence of this
witness that you came over the wall with this can of powder to blow up
our water-wheel so as to stop our works. Mr Gentles, I think we shall
get the better of you this time."

The man raised himself to his feet, and stood with great difficulty,
moaning with pain.

"Now," said Uncle Jack, "will you go back over the wall or out by the
gate."

"I'll pay thee for this. I'll pay thee for this," hissed the man.

Uncle Jack took him again by the throat.

"Look here," he said fiercely. "Have a care what you are doing, my fine
fellow. You have had a narrow escape to-night. If we had not been
carefully watching you would by now have been hanging by that chain--
drowned. Mind you and your cowardly sneaking scoundrels of companions
do not meet with some such fate next time they come to molest us. Now
go. You can't walk? The