Andy at Yale | Page 5

it in this case," added Tom, still in even tones.
"Are you? Well, I'd like to know how?" sneered the farmer.
"Would you? Then listen and you will hear, my friend," went on Tom. "Unless you pay this young man the money you owe him we will swear out a warrant against you, have you arrested, and use him as a witness against you."
For a moment there was a deep silence; then the farmer burst out with:
"Have me arrested! Me? What for?"
"For assault and battery," answered Tom. "We saw you assault this young man with a horse-whip, and, while it might take some time to have him sue you for his wages, it won't take us any time at all to get an officer here and have you taken to jail on a criminal charge. The matter of the wages may be a civil matter--the horse-whipping is criminal.
"So, take your choice, Mr. Snad, if that's your name. Pay this young man his twelve dollars, or we'll cause your arrest on this assault charge. Now, my friend, it's up to you," and taking out his pocket knife Tom began whittling a stick picked from the ground. Andy and his chums looked admiringly at Tom, who had thus found such an effective lever of persuasion.
The angry farmer glanced from one to the other of the five lads. They gave him back look for look--unflinchingly.
"And don't be too long about it, either," added Tom, making the splinters fly. "We're due at Kelly's for a little feed, and then we want to get back to Milton. Don't be too long, my friend, unless you want to spend the night in jail."
The farmer gulped once or twice. The Adam's apple in his throat went up and down. Clearly he was struggling with himself.
"I--I--you----" he began.
"Tut! Tut!" chided Tom. "You'd better go get the money. We can't wait all day."
"I--er--I----" The farmer seemed at a loss for words. Then, turning on his heel, he started toward the house. He was beaten.
"I--I'll get it," he flung back over his shoulder. "And then I'll swear out warrants for your arrest. You're trespassers, that's what you are. I'll fix you!"
"Trespassers? Oh, no," returned Andy, sweetly. "We're only good Samaritans. Perhaps you may have read of them in a certain book. Also we are acting as the attorneys for this gentleman, in collecting a debt due him. We are his counsel, and the law allows a man to have his counsel present at a hearing. I hardly think an action in trespass would lie against us, Mr. Snad; so don't put yourself out about it."
"That's the stuff!"
"Good for you, Andy!"
"Say, you got his number all right!"
Thus Andy's chums called to him laughingly as the farmer went into the house.
CHAPTER III
AN UNPLEASANT PROSPECT
"Say, I can't tell how much obliged to you I am," impulsively exclaimed the young fellow with his arm in a sling. "That--that----"
"He's a brute, that's what he is!" broke out Andy. "Don't be afraid to call him one."
"He sure is," came from Tom. "I just wish he'd rough it up a bit. I wouldn't have asked anything better than to take and roll him around his own barnyard. Talk about tackling a fellow on the gridiron--Oh me! Oh my!"
"It was mighty nice of you boys to take my part," went on the young fellow. "I'm not feeling very well. He's worked me like a horse since I've been here, and that, on top of spraining my arm, sort of took the tucker out of me. Then, when he came at me with the whip, just because I said I couldn't work any more----"
"There, never mind. Don't think about it," advised Chet, seeing that the youth was greatly affected.
"Do you live around here?" asked Andy.
"Well, I don't live much of anywhere," was the reply. "I'm a sort of Jack-of-all-trades. My name is Lincoln Bardon--Link, I'm generally called. I work mostly at farming, but I'll never work for Amos Snad again. He's too hard."
"Where are you going after you leave here?" asked Frank Newton.
"Oh, I've got a friend who works on a farm over in Cherry Hollow. I can go there and get a place. The farming season is on now, and there's lots of help wanted. But I sure am much obliged to you for helping me get my money. I've earned it and I need it. That mowing machine was broken when he had me take it out of the shed."
"How'd he come to use the whip?" asked Andy.
"It was when I came back with the team, and said I couldn't work any more on account of my arm. He has a lot of work to do," explained Link, "and he ought to keep two men. Instead, he tries to get along with one, and works him like a slave.