"Where's the notice?" asked Bayliss suddenly.

"It's where we can produce it at any time that it's wanted," Prescott
made reply. "If anyone has been injured, Dodge, in health or
in business, by your stupid, brainless bit of horse play and meanness,
then I imagine that you'll find yourself in for a serious time
of it. So now you know why we took the tires off your automobile.
We knew that our campfire would show you the way to our camp,
and that you'd surely be here to hear what we had to say to you.
Dodge, we don't care particularly for you, or for Bayliss, either,
but if the warning I've given you about pasting up such lying
notices to scare people traveling over a public highway is of
any use to you, then you're welcome to what you've learned."

The coolness of this proposition was such as to take Bert's breath
away for a few seconds. When he recovered, he turned to the
red-moustached farmer, sputtering:

"Well, what do you---you think of that cast-iron nerve and cheek?"

"If the facts have been correctly stated," replied the farmer,
"I believe these young men have done you a service, and that you'd
show more of the spirit of a man if you admitted it."

"Humph!" muttered Dodge.

"Humph!" echoed Bayliss.

Then, enraged at the tantalizing smile on Prescott's face, Bert