one jump and landed in the middle
of that kitchen floor.

"'You--you--you!' he yelled, wavin' the shotgun. 'You're back here, are
you? You know what I told you I'd do to you? Well, now, I'll do it.'

"The pair of 'em had jumped about as far as Nate had, only the opposite
way. Augustus was a paralyzed statue, but Olivia had her senses with
her.

"'Run, Augustus!' she screamed. 'He'll shoot you. Run!'

"And then, with a screech like a siren whistle, Augustus commenced to
run. Nate was between him and the outside door, so he bolted headfirst
into the dining room. And after him went Nate Scudder, so crazy mad he
didn't know what he was doin'.

"'Twas pitch dark in the dining room, but through it they went rattlety
bang! dishes smashin', chairs upsettin' and 'hurrah, boys!' to pay
gen'rally. Then through the best parlor and into the front hall.

"I cal'late Nate would have had him at the foot of the front stairs if
it hadn't been for Galileo. That cat had been asleep on the sofy, and
the noise and hullabaloo had stirred him up till he was as crazy as the
rest of 'em. He run right under Nate's feet and down went Nate sprawlin'
and both barrels of the shotgun bust loose like a couple of cannon.

"Galileo took for tall timber, whoopin' anthems. Up them front stairs
went Augustus, screechin' shrill, like a woman; he was SURE Nate meant
to murder him now. And after him his uncle went on all fours, swearin'
tremendous.

"Then 'twas through one bedroom after another, and each one more crowded
with noisy, smashable things than that previous. Nate said he could
remember the professor roarin' 'Fire!' and 'Help!' as the two of 'em
bumped into his bed, but they didn't stop--they was too busy. The whole
length of the house upstairs they traveled, then through the ell, then
the woodshed loft, and finally out into the upper story of the barn. And
there Nate knew he had him. The ladder was down.

"'Now!' says Nate. 'Now, you long-legged villain, if I don't give you
what's comin' to you, then--Oh, there ain't no use in your climbin' out
there; you can't get down.'

"The big barn doors was open, and, in the moonlight, Nate could see
Gus scramblin' up and around on the flyin' stage where the professor's
aeroplane was perched, lookin' like some kind of magnified June bug.

"'Come back, you fool!' Scudder yelled at him. 'Come back and be
butchered. You might as well; it's too high for you to drop. You won't?
Then I'll come after you