"I"ve got you, you rascally burglar!" were the words he heard, and gave himself up for lost.
"Who are you?" he asked faintly.
"I am Luke Robbins, and I know you of old. You are Tom Burns!"
CHAPTER x.x.xI.
THE ADVERTIs.e.m.e.nT.
If there was any one of whom Tom Burns stood in fear it was Luke Robbins. When he found himself in the grasp of his dreaded enemy he grew weak with terror.
It was no longer a question of successful robbery. It was a matter of personal safety.
"Well, what have you to say for yourself?" demanded Luke, tightening his grasp.
"Have mercy on me, Mr. Robbins! Don"t kill me!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Burns, half choked.
"What did you come here for?"
"I--I had no money, and--"
"You thought you could get some here. That is the explanation."
"Ye-es," faltered Burns.
"You thought you would be more than a match for the boy. Well, you have no boy to deal with."
"I know that very well," confessed Burns.
"How long have you been in Oreville?"
"I only came this morning."
"You have improved your time," said Luke, dryly. "You have stolen a gold watch, besides making this attempt at robbery."
Tom Burns could not deny it, though he was surprised at Luke"s knowledge. He did not reply.
"Hand over that watch!" said Luke, in a tone of authority.
"Will you let me go if I do?"
"I will make no conditions with you. Hand over that watch!"
Burns drew it from his inside pocket and handed it over.
"Humph! So far so good. Now how about that dollar you took to buy eggs?"
"It is the only money I have, except a few pennies. Please let me keep it."
"If I tell the miners what you have done you won"t need any more money," said Luke, grimly.
"Why not?" asked Burns, trembling.
"Why not?" repeated Luke. "Because they will hang you to the nearest tree. You won"t need to trouble about money matters after that."
"You won"t give me up, Mr. Robbins," pleaded Burns in an agony of terror. "I--I am not fit to die. Besides, I am a young man. I am not yet forty. I will turn over a new leaf. I will, truly."
"It"s high time you did. It is a long time since you earned an honest living."
"I know it, Mr. Robbins. I have been a bad man, but it is not too late to reform. If you"ll let me go I will leave Oreville to-night, and I will never trouble you again."
"It isn"t me you have troubled. It is the boy. You robbed him, or tried to do it, at Oak Forks, and now you have turned up here."
"I didn"t know he was here. Truly I didn"t."
"You didn"t know I was here, or I think you would have given the place a wide berth."
"I am very sorry for what I did, and if you"ll only spare my life I"ll promise to reform."
"I haven"t much faith in your promises, but I"ll leave it to the boy.
Ernest, what shall I do with this man?"
Ernest had come forward, and was standing but a few feet from Luke and his captive.
"If he promises to reform," said Ernest, "you"d better give him another chance, Luke."
"I am not sure that I ought to, but it is you to whom he has done the most harm. If you give him over to the miners we shall never be troubled by him again."
Tom Burns turned pale, for he knew that life and death were in the balance, and that those two--Luke and the boy--were to decide his fate.
Ernest could not help pitying the trembling wretch. He was naturally kind hearted, and at that moment he felt that he could forgive Burns all that he had done.
"Since you have left it to me, Luke," he said, "let him go."
"It shall be as you say, Ernest."
As he spoke he released his hold, and Tom Burns stood erect. He breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"May I go?" he asked submissively.
"Yes."
Before leaving he turned to Ernest.
"You are a good-hearted boy," he said, "and I shall not forget that you have saved my life. If I am ever able to do anything for you, I will do it. You will find that Tom Burns, bad as he has been, knows how to be grateful."