n never get him now," uttered Dave Darrin disgustedly.
"Whew! I wish I could run as fast as that."

"You can learn," replied Dick.

"Yes; in about ten years!"

"Dave, you could learn to run a heap faster than you do, and in a mighty
short time."

"How?"

"Just start in to train. Get someone who knows something about it to
give you pointers on running. Pshaw! I believe our whole crowd ought to
start in to learn to run. To run, really, I mean. If I had been a faster
runner to-night I might have gotten away from that bully. I might have
saved myself from a good many aches that I've got just now."

"You aching?" questioned Darrin. "What makes you ache?"

"Dexter gave me two hard thrashings before you fellows got along."

"He did?" sputtered Dave vengefully. "O Dick, why did you ever let him
get away from us?"

"I'm glad I did something to the sneak while I had the chance," declared
Greg Holmes.

"First of all, tell me how you fellows came to find me," suggested Dick
Prescott.

"Oh, that's easy enough to account for," Dave replied. "Greg and I were
on Main Street looking for you. Then we went down to the store. Your
mother told us that you'd gone to Mrs. Davis's with a package of books,
so we set out to meet you on your return. And right over there, on the
street, we came across a little girl, white, scared and half crying. She
said she had seen a man grab you up, throw you over the wall----"

"Yes, that happened," nodded Prescott.

"And the little kiddie said she saw the man jump over the wall, grab you
up and start for the woods. She was sure the wicked man was going to
kill you."

"Dexter was mad enough, but he lacked the sand for going that far, I
guess," remarked Prescott.

"He might not be without the sand," argued Dave. "I've got a notion that
Dexter, while a coward, perhaps, about some things, would go about as
far as his anger drove him. I'm glad we came along, anyway."

"So am I. You fellows sneaked in so quietly in the dark, that I didn't
see you until just before you tackled Dexter. Well, there's no great
harm done, thanks to you, Dave, and to you, Greg. Let's get back to Main
Street."

As the youngsters crossed the field and strolled up the street, Dick
gave an accurate account of what had befallen him.

"So the sneak wanted to pay you to help him in some dirty sort of work?"
demanded Dave, his dark eyes ablaze with disgust.

"I imagine it must have been dirty work, since Dexter had plan