Page:Ralph on the Railroad.djvu/753

Rh actions in the past would warrant my having a whole battery around me."

"That's done with," asserted Slump, quite meekly. "Bemis is up there a little ways. You needn't be afraid of him, either."

"What are you getting at with all this talk, Ike?" inquired Ralph.

"Why, we want to be friends."

"What for?"

"Because—because we're tired of starving and being hunted and the like," said Slump. "You have won out, we are beaten. We want to work together."

"I declare I don't understand what you are driving at," said Ralph. "Come, Ike Slump, play no more crafty games. It don't pay. Be honest and straight. What did you bring me here for?"

"To make some money for both of us."

"In what way?"

"You would give a good deal to find Gasper Farrington, wouldn't you, now?"

"I certainly am anxious to locate that man, yes," answered Ralph frankly.

"All right, we know where he is."

"And you are willing to make amends, I suppose, for your past misconduct by telling me where Farrington is to be found, so that I can have him arrested."