at, since he had so much to do with abducting Fred, he
ought to be arrested, tried, and punished. He should be made to suffer
for his crime."

Hank showed his hard sense by replying:

"I don't deny that, but there's no way of punishing him. He hasn't done
a thing fur which you could make the court say he's guilty. The younker
there that spent more time than he liked in the canyon has never even
seed Bill Tozer. What reason, then, has he fur saying Bill had anything
to do with the bus'ness?"

"Didn't he admit as much to you?"

"Not a word! He give himself away in his talk, but whenever he said
anything 'bout things he reminded me it was all guesswork."

"Could not Motoza be made to swear against him?"

"He might, and he might not. If he did, why, Bill would swear t'other
way, and make it look as if he was trying to play the friend for the
younker. It would be like some folks, after the thing was over,
proposing to buy Bill a gold medal fur showing himself such a good and
noble man. No; my plan is best. When I give him the laugh he'll feel
worse than if he was sent up fur ten years."

"It looks as if there is no other way of punishing him," remarked Fred;
"but the case is different with Motoza."

"Wal, _rather_!"

It would be impossible to convey a true idea of the manner of Hank
Hazletine when he uttered these words. He nodded his head, clinched his
free hand, and his eyes seemed to flash fire.

"Do you mean to kill him, Hank?"

"O, no," was the scornful response; "I'm going to take his hand and tell
him how much I love him. I'll wipe the paint off one cheek, so as to
make room fur a brotherly kiss. I'll send him to your folks, that you
may have him for a playmate. He'll be so sweet and nice among the little
younkers. _That's_ what I'll do with dear Motoza!"

It was impossible not to read the terrible purpose that lay behind all
this. The boys made no mistake. Jack Dudley shuddered, but was silent.
He knew the miscreant richly merited the threatened retribution, and yet
he wished it were not impending.

Surely, if anyone was justified in calling down vengeance upon the head
of the vagrant Sioux it was his victim--he who had felt his hatred, and
whose physical sufferings must remind him of the same for weeks to come.
But Fred Greenwood was in a gracious and forgiving mood. His heart
throbbed when he recalled what he had so recently passed through, but he
could not lose sight of the blessed fact that he _ha