prison. So far as that affair is
concerned, he was no better than Jasniff."

"What makes me mad is his trying to connect-up with me," burst out Nat.
"I've told him twice now that I was done with him, and I want him to
leave me alone."

"Were you going to answer this letter, Nat?" questioned Ben.

"No. I was going to tear it up, the same as the other. It's only got
'Boston' for an address, anyway."

"It seems to me, Nat, it might be a good thing for you to write to Link
and tell him exactly what you think of him," said Dave. "Tell him you
are done with him forever, and that you don't want to get any more
letters. Perhaps that will settle him. Send the letter to the General
Delivery."

"That's what I was going to ask you about, Dave. I don't want to have
that fellow bothering me. I told you I was going to turn over a new
leaf." And now for once in his life, Nat Poole looked Dave and then Ben
squarely in the face.

"Then, by all means, write to him and tell him exactly where you stand,"
went on our hero. "Make the letter good and strong, Nat, so that there
won't be any mistake about it."

"I'll do it," answered the money-lender's son. And then after a few
words more, he replaced the letter in his pocket and drove on, and Dave
and his party resumed their automobile trip.

"That certainly is news," was Ben's comment, as they rolled along the
river road. "I thought from what you said, Dave, he must have been
buried alive."

"So we all thought. His escape must have been nothing short of a
miracle."

"I don't begrudge him his life, but I don't want him to bother Dave any
more," said Laura. "He is such a wicked fellow."

"Dave, didn't you say, after you came from Cave Island, that Link said
something about reforming?" asked Jessie.

"Yes, he did talk that way. He was very humble, and sorry that he had
gone into the robbery with Jasniff. But I guess now that what made him
humble was the fact that he was in danger of going to prison. As soon as
he got away, his ideas changed."

"I hope he doesn't come here to bother you, Dave," sighed Laura.

"Oh, please don't think of such a dreadful thing!" cried Jessie. "If he
is in Boston, I hope he stays there." But this wish was not to be
fulfilled, as we shall see later.

The ride along the river road and over the hills beyond was much enjoyed
by the young folks, and it was after dark when they returned to
Crumville. All told, Jessie made it very pleasant for Dave, but s