you haven't got the brains. Tell me
now, wasn't it Buck Lemington who got you to come here, and try to set
the shed afire?"

Conrad tried to look defiant, but somehow he lacked the spirit. He saw
those two frowning lads on either side of him, as he stood there
leaning against the wall of the boathouse, his ankles tied with the
rope; and he began to weaken.

"I never would a' thought of coming here to spy if it wasn't for----"
he had just started to say, when there came a loud whistle, twice
repeated, from outside, which must have been recognized by the fellow
as a terrible threat of what would happen to him if he opened his lips
to betray his cronies; for he shivered as if he had been showered with
ice water, nor could they influence him after that, either by threats
or promises, to say another word.

Fear of what Buck would do seemed to have a greater influence over him
than the possibility of punishment because of what he had tried to do.
One was sure, while the other might be set down as only a chance.

Besides, perhaps the fellow began to realize that Fred and Colon really
could not prove that he had been carrying that bundle of old rags, as
well as the bottle containing the kerosene. No court would decide that
because they had been found there on the ground, he had brought them.

Fred understood this and it was what made him say presently:

"Well, we might as well let this fellow loose, Colon. After all, the
proof, if there is any, must rest in these rags and this bottle. If we
can find out just where they came from, we'll be satisfied in our own
minds whom we have to thank for this midnight alarm."

"Just as if there could be any doubt about it!" scoffed Colon. "Didn't
we hear that whistle, and don't I know who gave it? Buck carries a
little silver whistle and likes to communicate with his bunch that way.
They've got a regular code, I've heard tell. And didn't you notice how
quick Conrad, here, buttoned up his lips when he heard that order to
keep mum?"

"Another night," said Fred, threateningly, "we'll have a shotgun handy;
and it'll go hard with prowlers, if we get a sight of them. Unfasten
his legs, Colon, and then show him the door."

The prisoner seemed to regain a little of his lost courage upon finding
that they did not mean to hurt him any.

"And you just stop pinching me when you do untie this rope, Chris
Colon," said Conrad. "I want you to know you don't own the earth. A
feller what lives in