d the trap, turning it over and over, and then throwing it
heavily on the floor.

He looked hard at me then, and I suppose my face told tales.

"I thought so," he said; "that was your game, Master Cob."

"Yes," I said; "but I thought it was taken up. I told Uncle Bob to take
it up when I went to London."

"He thought you meant the trap of the drain," cried Uncle Jack, roaring
with laughter. "He had the bricklayer to it, and said there was a bad
smell, and it was well cleaned out."

"Oh!" I exclaimed; "and I made sure that it was all right again."

"How came you to set the trap there?"

"I had seen marks on the wall," I said, "where someone came over, but I
never thought it could be Gentles."

"No, my lad, one don't know whom to trust here; but how came you to
think of that?"

"It was the rat-trap set me thinking of it, and when I made up my mind
to do it I never thought it would be so serious as it was. Are you very
angry with me?"

Uncle Jack looked at me with his forehead all in wrinkles, and sat down
on a high stool and tapped the desk.

I felt a curious flinching as he looked so hard at me, for Uncle Jack
was always the most stern and uncompromising of my uncles. Faults that
Uncle Dick would shake his head at, and Uncle Bob say, "I say, come,
this won't do, you know," Uncle Jack would think over, and talk about
perhaps for two or three days.

"I ought to be very angry with you, Cob," he said. "This was a very
rash thing to do. These men are leading us a horrible life, and they
deserve any punishment; but there is the law of the land to punish
evildoers, and we are not allowed to take that law in our own hands.
You might have broken that fellow's leg with the trap."

"Yes, I see now," I said.

"As it is I expect you have done his leg serious injury, and made him a
worse enemy than he was before. But that is not the worst part of it.
What we want here is co-operation--that's a long word, Cob, but you know
what it means."

"Working together," I said.

"Of course. You are only a boy, but you are joined with us three to
mutually protect each other, and our strength lies in mutual dependence,
each knowing exactly what the other has done."

"Yes, I see that, Uncle," I said humbly.

"How are we to get on then if one of the legs on which we stand--you,
sir, gives way? It lets the whole machine down; it's ruin to us, Cob."

"I'm very sorry, uncle."

"We are four. Well, suppose one of us ge