Page:Boys of Columbia High on the River.djvu/93

Rh you here, and you just happened to see him slink away."

"But he's never bothered with me. All his venom seems to be directed toward you, Frank. I don't catch on to your meaning," observed Paul, puzzled.

"Oh! shucks, why do you make me say it plainer? It's Minnie! Lef used to go with her considerably before she and I became such good friends. That's the real secret of his hatred for me, when you sift it down. He's still soft in that direction, especially since she has refused to speak to him after that runaway incident where I happened to play a little part."

"Oh! I see. And you really think that he was hanging around the Cuthbert house when Bessie and myself went to get Minnie to bring her here? Well, perhaps it's so; but promise me, Frank, that you'll be careful."

"You all make me feel as though I might be a precious cut glass vase, with a sign of 'hands off!' hung on me. Oh! why certainly, if it pleases you, Paul, I'll sleep with one eye open to-night, and my window nailed so that no ferocious burglar can crawl in to bruise me against to-morrow. But I'll be glad when this awful tension is over."

"So will I, Frank. Everybody seems to feel as if something dreadful is hanging over our heads. That boat being stolen last night shows how easy