RESCUED

"Where in thunder kin they be!"

Abner and Royden were standing on the bank of the shore looking up and down in an effort to locate the berry pickers. They had been over the island, and had now come back to where Billy was lying upon the sand. Not a sign of the women and children could they see, and Abner was somewhat anxious.

"Surely the spooks haven't carried 'em off," he continued. "I've heard people tell about strange sights an' noises in this place, but I allus laffed at 'em. Mebbe they was right, though."

Royden was standing upon a rock looking keenly down river.

"Do you suppose they're in that old barn out on that stretch of lowland?" he asked.

"What would they be doin' there?" Abner enquired, as he, too, turned his face in that direction.

"Perhaps they've gone in out of the sun. Children like to play in old barns. I did, anyway, when I was a kid."

The barn to which Royden referred was on a narrow strip of marsh land, which ran for some distance out into the river. Hay was stored here until it could be hauled to the mainland in winter. It was an old weather-beaten building, and had been much battered by the flowing ice in the great spring rush.

"Surely they wouldn't be in a place like that," Abner mused, as he stood looking at the barn. "But ye kin never tell what notions women an' kids'll take, so it's jist as well to investigate."

Royden at once offered to go, but Abner detained him.

"Look here, young man, you've done enough trampin' fer a while. Let that lazy feller down there go. I guess his clothes are dry by this time. If they ain't, then a little touch of this breeze'll finish the job."

Billy, however, was loth to go, and said that he didn't feel well. He preferred to stay where he was.

"Sick, are ye?" and Abner turned suddenly upon him. "Well, it's fer the good of ye'r health that I'm askin' ye to take this little jant. If ye stay here ye'll be a darn sight sicker than ye are at present, let me tell ye that."

Something about Abner's voice and manner made Billy realise that he must obey. Slowly he rose to his feet and stretched himself.

"Confound it all!" he growled. "Why can't a fellow have a minute's peace!"

"Peace! Peace!" Abner roared, now thoroughly disgusted. "I'll give ye a kind of peace ye ain't lookin' fer, an' that'll be a piece of me boot. That's the only kind the likes of you understand. Hustle along there now, an' don't dilly-dally."

The two men watched Billy as he sauntered leisurely along the shore, picking his way among the stones.

"Well, if that don't beat the Dutch!" Abner exclaimed. "I wonder what the Lord was thinkin' of when he made sich a critter."

"He must be fond of making that kind, though," Royden replied. "He has a long list to His credit."

Abner pulled out his pipe, filled and lighted it. He then stretched himself out upon the ground in such a position that he could keep his eye upon Billy, who was now some distance away.

"Come to think of it," he began, "I don't believe the Lord is altogether to blame fer sich articles that walk on two legs an' call themselves men. He intended that they should be all right, an' gave them their own free will. But seems to me that that critter's ancestors, let the sap run out of the tree, an' there's mighty little left to work with. Zeb was right when he said that all the Social Service in the world won't do more'n elevate a pig into a hog. Jess will come to see that, too, as sure as guns."

"Is Miss Andrews as keen as ever on Social Service?" Royden asked.

"Jist as keen," Abner replied. "But she's got her hands full now with them kids. That's one reason why I'm willin' to keep 'em. Jess an' Belle are mighty interested in 'em, an' that's a great deal to me an' Tildy. But jist look at that feller; he ain't to the barn yit. I wonder how long he intends to hang around. I don't want him, an' I'm dang sure Belle doesn't, either. How de ye s'pose we kin git clear of him?"

"Can't you think of some way?" Royden asked, with a twinkle in his eyes. "If you should behave to him like you did to me the first day we met, I don't believe Billy would remain long."

"I was pretty het up that day I took the gun to ye," Abner acknowledged. "But it didn't work. Ye was too much fer me, all right, an' I ain't ashamed to confess it. Why, most chaps would have hollered, an' made no end of a fuss. But you was dead game, an' that put me off me reckonin'."

Before Royden could reply a yell of terror fell upon their ears. Startled, they both sprang to their feet, and looked anxiously in the direction from which the sound came. And as they did so, they saw Billy coming toward them with great leaps, followed by an animal which they at once recognized as an infuriated bull.

"Good Lord!" Abner ejaculated. "Where in thunder did that critter come from? Why, I know. It's Pete Slocum's. He said he was goin' to put it on the island, as he couldn't keep it in the pasture. I fergot all about it, blamed if I didn't."

"Billy will be killed," Royden exclaimed, much excited.

"Not at the rate he's runnin' now," was the reply. "Did ye ever see anythin' like it? Why, the grass must be hot under his feet. I didn't know he had sich speed aboard. Look at that fer jumps! An' listen to his yells. He'll have lockjaw if he isn't keerful."

It certainly was a wild run Billy was making, with the bull in close pursuit. Notwithstanding Abner's apparent amusement, he was really concerned, and was about to rush forward, though he was sure he could not reach the youth in time to be of any assistance, as he had no weapon with which to fight the bull. He was on the point of starting, anyway, when he noticed that Billy was making straight for a clump of birch trees standing low on the bank of the island.

"Good fer him!" he exclaimed. "He's some sense left yit."

"Will he make it, do you think?" Royden almost breathlessly asked.

"Make it? Sure. If that feller makes heaven as sartin as he'll make that tree, he'll be all right, though I guess he won't make it as fast. Look at that! Why, he went up it like a cat. He's safe, all right, now," and Abner breathed a sigh of relief. "Gee whittaker! He's a wonder when a bull's after him."

"What shall we do?" Royden asked. "We can't leave him there, and the bull doesn't seem inclined to go away. Look how he's roaring around that tree and tearing up the ground."

"We'll fix that critter, all right," Abner replied. "Let's git a couple of hand-spikes. Wish to goodness I'd brought me axe along."

Searching among the drift-wood, they soon found two stout sticks.

"I guess these'll do," Abner remarked, as he tested them over a log. "Now fer some fun."

Royden could not see much fun in the undertaking, though he followed his companion without a word. Making their way as speedily as possible along the shore, they at length came near enough for the bull to observe their presence. He stopped pawing for a few seconds, and stared angrily at the intruders. Then his right fore hoof again tore up the turf, and his roars became more furious than ever.

Abner now seemed in his element. His eyes glowed with the light of battle, and, grasping his stick firmly with both hands, he rushed forward.

"............