t. "How many of them are there?" said he. "Five;
and I could have split them out in less than half the time you took
to do it, and made better boards besides. I can't use these at all."

"Dave," said Dan, solemnly, as he picked up the frow and mallet, "I
see you're bound to go agin me."

"No, I am not, and I don't want you to go against me, either."

"Yes, you be. You're goin' to cheat me outen my shar' of them fifty
dollars, ain't you now?"

"You will have no share in the money. It will all belong to me, and I
shall give it to mother."

"Then, Dave, not a quail do you ketch in these yere fields so long as
you hold to them idees. Don't you furget it, nuther."

"What do you mean?" asked David, in alarm. "What are you going to
do?"

"I don't make no threatenings. I only say you can't ketch no birds so
long as you go agin me, an' that's jest what I mean. If you come to
me some day an' say, 'I wus wrong, Dannie, an' now I'm goin' to act
decent, like a brother had oughter do,' I'll give you my hand an' do
what I can to help you. You've got a big job afore you, an' you can't
by no means do it alone. You'd oughter have somebody to help you, an'
thar's a heap of hard work in me, the fust thing you know."

"That's so," thought David, running his eyes over his brother's
stalwart figure; "but I guess it will stay there."

"We can make them fifty dollars easy, if we pull together; but you
can't make 'em by yourself, an' you shan't, nuther. You hear me?"

As Dan said this he disappeared around the corner of the cabin,
leaving his brother standing silent and thoughtful. He came out again
in a few minutes with his rifle on his shoulder, and without saying
another word to David or even looking toward him, climbed over the
fence and went into the woods. When he was out of sight, David sat
down on one of his traps and went off into a brown study. He was in a
bad scrape, that was plain; and the longer he thought about it, the
darker the prospect seemed to grow. He had his choice between two
courses of action: he must either take Dan into partnership, divide
the money with him when it was earned, and permit himself to be
browbeaten and driven about as if he were little better than a dog;
or he must make an enemy of him by asserting his rights. Which of the
two was the more disagreeable and likely to lead to the most
unpleasant consequences, he could not determine. If Dan were accepted
as a partner, he would insist on handling a