rough that night, and did ample justice to the viands. Moxley's
bracelets were taken off and he was allowed to eat his fill with the
rest.

It was four o'clock on Saturday morning before the tired crowd got to
sleep. The four boys were given a room containing two large beds, and
the adjoining apartment was occupied by Hocker and Jeffries, and their
prisoner. Bug was accommodated with a cushioned settee in the kitchen.

The boys woke up, refreshed in mind and body, about three o'clock in the
afternoon. They came down stairs just in time to see Hocker and Jeffries
drive away in a buggy with the sullen faced prisoner between them.
Hocker had made arrangements with the farmer to take the boat back to
the cabin in a wagon.

Moxley had been compelled to disgorge his plunder, and the boys were
highly gratified when Jeffries handed over the watches and money the
tramp had so coolly taken from them.

Half an hour after the trio had departed for Carlisle jail Bug took an
earnest farewell of the boys, and struck across the country in a bee
line for his home at the Gap. His last word to Ned was a renewal of the
promise to stay at home and lead an honest life, and Ned sincerely
believed that he meant it.

"That load of salt I put into Moxley's legs turned out for the best
after all," said Randy in a roguish tone. "If I hadn't pulled trigger
that night Bug Batters would still be treading the path of wickedness,
with no hope of a reformation."

"Your foolishness had one good result, I'll admit," replied Ned. "But
don't try the experiment again. It's too costly."

The boys tacitly agreed with Ned. Even Bug's conversion was rather a
high price to pay for the fright and indignities they had endured at the
hands of Mr. Dude Moxley. They remembered also that the burning of the
mill was indirectly due to Randy's foolish shot.

The certain prospect of the insurance money effectively silenced any
resentment that Mr. Zinn might otherwise have felt toward the boys. He
warmly invited them to stay over Sunday, and the invitation was promptly
accepted. They went down after supper to examine the canoes, and allowed
them to remain where they were on the farmer's assurance that nothing
could happen to them. The grain bag containing the greater part of the
baggage had been taken up the house the night before. The tin boxes had
perished in the flames, but this was a trifling loss, and did not
trouble the boys much in the light of what might ha