and
f-f-fetch in the s-s-spoils. There, do you understand about the
s-s-spring-gun trap now, Steve?"

"Oh! I knew all that before, only you mixed me up by giving it that
name," the other hastily replied. "But it strikes me that'd be a pretty
rough deal for us to play. It might answer if the thief were an animal,
but a human being is different."

"All the same," retorted Toby, savagely, "he's a t-t-thief, and outside
the p-p-pale of the law."

"Just so," Steve went on, and Max was surprised at his moderation,
because, as a rule, Steve had always been the most reckless one of the
crowd; "but suppose now we found that we'd done more than we calculated
on, Toby? A charge of small birdshot starts out on its errand a whole
lot like a bullet. It doesn't commence to scatter till it gets just so
far away from the muzzle of the gun; depending on the size of the bore,
and the way the barrel is choked. I've known a charge of shot to tear a
hole right through a board when fired at close range. At a distance it
would only have scattered out, and peppered the whole fence. And, Toby,
we might feel rather bad if we found we'd killed a man, even if he was a
thief!"

Toby did not answer to that fling. The truth of the matter was he
shivered at the gruesome picture Steve's words drew before his mental
vision; for Toby was not at all bloodthirsty.

Max now took a hand in the conversation.

"Listen, fellows," he went on to say, "it strikes me that when we set
about discussing this matter, we ought to remember that there's one chap
who's considerably more interested in the outcome than any of us can
ever be."

"'Course you mean Obed when you say that, Max?" ventured Bandy-legs.

"He's the one," the other admitted. "And we ought to invite him to join
us in figuring out our plans. Now, it may be Obed will have a scheme of
his own that'd knock any we might think up all silly. I'll call him
over, and tell him what we're trying to arrange."

It happened that just then Obed was passing on his way to the cabin. He
had been working somewhere amidst his enclosures, perhaps making certain
preparations for insuring the safety of his valuable furry pets, should
a descent on the farm come about during the hours of darkness.

Obed hastened to join them. His questioning look influenced Max to
explain without hesitation; and the woods boy smiled broadly when he
heard how his new-found friends were already taking so decided an
interest in his for