Page:Boys of the Fort.djvu/253

 CHAPTER XXXI.

BURNING OF THE STOCKADE.

" will you do with him?" asked Joe of Benson, as he pointed to Nat Potts.

"Don't be hard on me," pleaded Potts. "I meant you no harm."

"You ought to be hung," grunted the old scout. "You aint fit to live and you know it, Potts. You could make an honest living if you wanted to, but you would rather cheat and steal."

"It was Matt Gilroy who got me into this," answered Potts. "He—"

"Don't put it off on to somebody else, Potts!" cried the old scout wrathfully. "If you aint got backbone enough to be honest, it's your own fault."

"Will you let me go, if I promise to leave this Territory?" asked Potts eagerly.

"No, sirree!&quot; was Benson's answer. "You shall suffer the full extent of the law, and don't you forget it!"

While waiting for the return of Cass and Bernstein, the old scout searched Potts and the dead Rh