terest to become a law-breaker."

"Then you can stay here till you rot!" retorted the burglar, roughly.
"You won't come out of this chamber till you have agreed to become one
of us."

There was something in this threat which startled Jasper, bold and brave
as he was.

"Such an outrage won't be permitted," he said.

"Won't it?" sneered Jack. "We'll see about that. I'll take the risk. You
don't know me yet," he added, with an oath.

"Is it wholly because you are afraid I will betray you that you treat me
in this way?" asked Jasper.

"No."

"What other reason have you?"

"I'll tell you. You're the sort of boy we want. You ain't any whining,
milk-and-water sort of boy. You're brave and spirited. You would be
worth a good deal to us."

Burglar though Jack was, Jasper was not insensible to the compliment.
Any boy likes to be considered spirited, even if he does not deserve it,
and he felt flattered by this tribute, which he felt that he deserved,
at least, in part.

"I am glad you have a good opinion of my courage," he said, "but I think
I can find a better use for it than in the career you open to me. If I
accepted your proposal from fear of imprisonment it would show that I
was not such a boy as you describe."

"You are an obstinate fool!" said Jack, with a frown.

"I am obstinate in this," said Jasper, composedly. "You want to spoil my
life by making me a criminal."

"Do you mean to call me a criminal!" exclaimed Jack, angrily.

"I call you nothing--I only take you at your word."

"You'll talk differently from this a week from now!" said Jack,
prepariug to shut the sliding-door.

"Do you mean to keep me in this dark hole a week?" asked Jasper, unable
to repress a shudder.

"Ha! that disturbs you, does it?" asked the other, smiling sardonically.

"Yes, it does. You don't think I fancy it, do you?"

"Well, you know the way to end your imprisonment."

"Is there only one way?"

"There's only one way. Tell the old man, Nathan, when you've made up
your mind to accept my offer."

Without waiting for a reply Jack pushed the sliding-door in its place,
and once more Jasper found himself in the dark.

CHAPTER XXVII.

AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND.

Three days and nights passed, and Jasper was still in confinement. Three
times a day Nathan came to bring him his meals. Each time he asked our
hero:

"Are you ready to join our friends?"

And each time Jasper answered:

"No!"

"You must like staying