my mother. She must have something to eat
and wear this winter, and how is she to get it, if I give up this
chance of making a little money?"

"Just listen to you, now!" Bob almost shouted. "One would think to
hear you talk that you are used to handling greenbacks by the bushel.
You are a pretty looking ragamuffin to call a hundred and fifty
dollars 'a little money,' are you not? It's more than your old
shantee and all you've got in it are worth. Go on!" he yelled,
shaking his riding whip at David, as the latter hurried down the road
toward home. "I'll send you word when to come down to the landing and
see your father go off to jail."

"I never saw such independence exhibited by a fellow in his
circumstances," said Lester, as he and Bob rode away together. "One
would think he was worth a million dollars."

"He thinks he will soon be worth a hundred and fifty, and that's what
ails him," answered Bob, whose face was pale with fury. "But there's
many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, as he will find before he is
many days older. I'll tell my father to-night what Godfrey Evans did,
and as soon as it grows dark we'll go down to that cabin and carry
off all the birds we can catch. The rest we will liberate."

A part of this programme was duly carried out. As soon as they
reached home Bob told his father what had happened the night before,
and was a good deal surprised as well as disgusted, because Mr. Owens
did not grow very angry, and declare that Godfrey should be punished
to the full extent of the law.

"A bag of meal and a side of bacon are hardly worth making a fuss
about," said Bob's father. "I will put a new lock on the smoke-house.
But how does it come that you boys did not tell me of this at once?"

"Because we wanted to make something out of it," replied Bob. "If it
hadn't been for Dave, Lester and I would have pocketed a nice little
sum of spending money; but he's gone and got the job of trapping the
quails, or rather that meddlesome Don Gordon got it for him, and, not
satisfied with that, he has the cheek to run against me when I am
trying to be appointed mail carrier."

"Well," said Mr. Owens.

"Well," repeated Bob, "I told him his father was a thief, and I could
prove it, but I would say nothing about it if he would agree not to
trap any more quails. If he had done that, I should have brought up
this matter of carrying the mail, and made him promise to leave me a
clear field there, too; but he wouldn'