e nothing agin him personally,
and I hope he'll take warning by this affair and keep out of bad
company."

He turned around and quickly removed Bug's handcuffs.

"You're a free man now," he said. "See that you stay free and justify
the clemency of the law by leadin' a respectable life in future."

Bug was dazed at first by the unexpected transition from despair to
hope. He stammered out a few inarticulate words of gratitude to Hocker
and Jeffries and then approached Ned.

"This is your doin'," he said brokenly. "You saved me from goin' to
jail. I shan't forget it--" He choked and broke off short.

Ned drew him down the wasteway to a little clump of bushes, out of
earshot of the others.

"Bug," he said earnestly, "if you are really grateful to me for saving
you from a term in prison, I'll tell you how you can prove it. Your
brother told me the whole story of your life, and what a shadow it has
cast on your home. You are breaking your mother's heart, and even your
father feels the disgrace keenly, and would welcome you back if you came
prepared to lead a different life. Go home, Bug, and make them all
happy. You will never regret it if you do. You are not bad at heart, I
know, and evil company has been the cause of all your trouble. Let
Moxley's fate be a warning to you. Turn over a new leaf from to-night.
Will you do it, Bug? Will you go straight home and lead an honest,
respectable life?"

Tears were standing in Bug's eyes, and he brushed them away with his
coat sleeve.

"I'll do it," he said in a firm, but husky voice. "I've been wantin' to
go home fur a long time, but I didn't dare to. I'm sick enough of livin'
in this way, an' what you've done an' said to-night will make a
different man of me. I mean it all, and I'll stick to it. I'll do no
more lyin' or stealin', and I'll keep away from bad company. I'll stay
at home and work. Here's my fist on it."

Ned warmly shook the proffered hand, and then both went slowly back to
the boat.

Bug's appearance was the signal for a most outrageous burst of
profanity and threats from Moxley, and when Jeffries had finally subdued
the ruffian by strong measures, the whole party crossed the wasteway,
and moved up to the farmhouse, which was half a mile distant.

Mrs. Zinn spread a huge table with all sorts of tempting food, and the
starved boys attacked it with a vigor that made her open her eyes in
amazement. The others were almost as hungry after all they had gone
th