"I ain't got 'em, but Tom Rover said"
And then suddenly old Ricks stopped short. He was commencing to "smell a mouse," as the saying is.
"Wot did Tom Rover say?" demanded Ham Ludd.
"Never mind wot he said," grumbled the stationmaster. "Only you be careful o' wot you say about me in the future, Ham Ludd, thet's all!"
"Huh! I guess that Rover boy has been a'jokin' you ag'in, Ricky," said Ludd, with a grin. "How about thet busted-up bonfire, an' that snaky cigar? Ha! ha! he had you them times, didn't he?"
"You shet up, Ham Ludd!" roared the stationmaster. "Don't you say another word!"
"I'll say all I please! An' you'll put up that fence, too, or I'll have the law on ye!" retorted Ham Ludd; and then went on his way.
"Hang them Rover boys anyway!" muttered old Ricks, as he gritted his teeth. "I'll be glad when they go off to college ag'in. Wish they would stay away!" And he went about his work.
"Ricks and Ludd will have it in for each other from now on," remarked Dick, as he and his brothers got into the automobile to go home.
"Yes, and he'll have it in for us me especially," returned Tom, with a broad grin. "Never mind; I can stand it," he added, carelessly.
