t now."

The man disappeared from view, and the sound of his footsteps told that
he was walking rapidly away in the direction from which he had
approached.

"What a fool I was to stay here fightin' for less than two dollars,
when by giving it up I might have been half a mile from here before
that villain came!" Jet said, bitterly, as he nerved himself for what
he knew must be the final struggle.

He had good cause for fear.

After the instructions which had been given there was little chance the
men would let him slip through their fingers, and, with such an
incentive on their part, there was no hope the struggle could be
prolonged.

The man whom he had stricken down was now on his feet, vowing
vengeance, and ready to continue the fight.

"Close right in on him," the leader said as he seized a stout rail from
a near-by fence. "He can only hit one blow, and the job is ended."

"I'll give them a chance to remember me," Jet said, as he stood ready
for the attack, and the words had hardly come into his mind before the
men were in front of him.

Striking out with all his strength, his cane came in contact with the
leader's weapon, shattering the former, and the fight was over.

Two of the men seized him by the arms, and the third amused himself by
slapping the helpless boy in the face until tired of the sport.

"Tie his hands, an' we'll mosey along. Joe is after something to
drink, an' we must be there in time to get our share."

One of the party had rope enough in his pocket to obey the order, and
in a twinkling Jet's arms were bound so tightly to his sides as to
cause great pain.

During all this time he had not spoken a word, but he did a "power of
thinking."

In the first place he scrutinized his captors carefully, in order to be
able to give a perfect description of them in case he succeeded in
making his escape, and then took a good survey of the surrounding
country, that he might find his way back again.

"Now get along, an' walk sharp, or what I have given you will seem no
more than a flea-bite alongside of the whalin' you'll get," the leader
said as one of the party started off, and he pushed Jet behind him.

The prisoner could do no less than obey, and despite the disadvantage
of walking with his hands tied, he managed to keep pace with the
others. During nearly half an hour the party continued on at a rapid
pace, turning out of the railroad track about a quarter of a mile from
the shanty, an