sir?" I exclaimed impetuously.
"I say it's a shame!"

He looked very hard at me, and then pursed up his lips, while I felt
that I had been speaking very rudely to him, and could only apologise to
myself by thinking that irritation was allowable, for only last night we
had been nearly blown up.

"Would you put the matter in the hands of the police?" said Uncle Dick.

"Well, you might," said Mr Tomplin.

"But you would not," said Uncle Bob.

"No, I don't think I should, if it were my case. I should commence an
action for damages if I could find an enemy who had any money, but it is
of no use fighting men of straw."

Mr Tomplin soon after went away, and I looked at my uncles, wondering
what they would say. But as they did not speak I broke out with:

"Why, he seemed to think nothing of it."

"Custom of the country," said Uncle Bob, laughing. "Come, Dick, it's
our turn now."

"Right!" said Uncle Dick; but Uncle Jack laid hold of his shoulder.

"Look here," he said. "I don't like the idea of you two going down
there."

"No worse for us than for you," said Uncle Bob.

"Perhaps not, but the risk seems too great."

"Never mind," said Uncle Dick. "I'm not going to be beaten. It's war
to the knife, and I'm not going to give up."

"They are not likely to try anything to-night," said Uncle Bob. "There,
you two can walk down with us and look round to see if everything is all
right and then come back."

"Don't you think you ought to have pistols?" said Uncle Jack.

"No," replied Uncle Dick firmly. "We have our sticks, and the dog, and
we'll do our best with them. If a pistol is used it may mean the
destruction of a life, and I would rather give up our adventure than
have blood upon our hands."

"Yes, you are right," said Uncle Jack. "If bodily injury or destruction
is done let them have the disgrace on their side."

We started off directly, and I could not help noticing how people kept
staring at my uncles.

It was not the respectably-dressed people so much as the rough workmen,
who were hanging about with their pipes, or standing outside the
public-house doors. These scowled and talked to one another in a way
that I did not like, and more than once I drew Uncle Dick's attention to
it, but he only smiled.

"We're strangers," he said. "They'll get used to us by and by."

There was not a soul near the works as we walked up to the gate and were
saluted with a furious fit of barking from Piter, who