With these thoughts, Toby was an anxious witness of the inhuman
treatment of the dogs by Marks, and when the big wolf dog sprang upon
its victim, he intuitively and instantly brought the butt of his whip
down upon the dog's head using all the force of his young arm. This
unexpected attack from the rear caused the animal to retreat, but not
until it had torn a rent in the man's adikey, and drawn blood from his
shoulder, barely missing the neck and throat, which had been its aim.

Marks was in a white rage when he regained his feet, and the dog would
have had another merciless beating at his hands, had he been able to
approach it, but it wisely kept at a distance, and would not permit
itself to be approached.

"That dog's holdin' a grudge against you," remarked Toby. "He'll be
gettin' you when you're not mindin' he sometime, and he'll sure kill you
if he does. I'd shoot un if 'twere mine."

"No," snapped Marks decisively, "I won't kill him. He won't kill me.
I'll keep him and club him till he cringes and crawls at my feet. I'll
be his master. No dog can make me kill him because he's bad. I'll take
it out of him."

"But that un has a grudge," repeated Toby.

"Just bad! Just bad! Three-quarters wolf! I'll make him a dog and take
the wolf out of him."

The wound in Marks's shoulder proved little more than a scratch. Mrs.
Twig bathed it with Dr. Healum's Liniment, and Marks assured her it
would be all right. Then while Marks smoked, and the boys sat and talked
with him, she repaired his torn adikey.

"I'm buying fur," Marks presently suggested. "Aaron Slade told me you
have some."

"We has some fur," Toby admitted, "but Dad sells the fur and he's away
at his path. He'll not be comin' home till the middle o' April month."

"Too bad, but I'd like to have a look at it. Aaron says you have a
silver fox. I'd like to see that."

"I'll get un," said Toby.

While Toby opened the fur chest, and brought forth the cotton bag in
which he kept the silver fox pelt, Marks watched him closely. As Toby
drew the pelt from the bag and handed it to Marks and the man shook it
out and held it up for inspection, Charley detected a gleam in his eye
of mingled admiration and greed, and it gave Charley a most
uncomfortable feeling.

"I'll give you four hundred cash for it," said Marks without taking his
eyes from the fur.

"No," Toby declined, "I'm not wantin' to sell un."

"That's a good offer," persisted Marks. "It's about what