one eye was almost closed and his nose was bleeding profusely.
"Now I guess you won't tackle any of us again," said Tom.
"I'll get even—mark my words!" roared Baxter, and ran down the lake shore in the direction the Falcon had taken.
When Baxter reached the yacht he was so weak he could scarcely stand. It was a long while before he could stop his nose from bleeding, and his eye stung with a pain that was maddening.
"Did little Sam Rover do that?" asked Mumps, while Josiah Crabtree looked on in curious silence.
"Sam Rover?" snorted Baxter. "Not much! Why, the whole crowd piled on me—six or seven of them at a time. They tried to kill me!"
"Didn't you defend yourself, Daniel?" asked Crabtree.
"Of course I did. I knocked two of them down and another fellow had two of his teeth broken. But I couldn't fight all six single-handed."
"Oh, I presume not—especially such brutes as Captain Putnam is now raising."
"It's a pity we can't get square with them," said Mumps.
"Oh, I'll get square! You just wait," an-
