At noon they went back to the farm house to dinner. Tony stared with astonishment at the quantity of food Abner made away with. He concluded that farm work was favorable to the appetite.
The afternoon passed rapidly away, and night came. Again Tony went up into the attic to share Abner's room. He got nervous as the night wore on. He knew what was expected of him, and he shrank from Rudolph's anger. He tried to go to sleep, but could not.
At last the expected signal came. There was a rattling of gravel stones upon the window.
"Shall I lie here and take no notice?" thought Tony.
In this case Rudolph would continue to fling gravel stones, and Abner might wake up. He decided to go to the window and announce his determination.
When Rudolph saw him appear at the window, he called out:
"You must!" exclaimed Rudolph, with a terrible oath. "If you dare to refuse, I'll flay you alive."
"I can't do it," said Tony, pale but resolute. "You have no right to ask it of me."
Just then Tony was startled by a voice from the bed:
"Is that your father? What does he want?"
"He wants me to open the door and let him into the house," Tony confessed, reluctantly.
"Ho, ho!" said Abner. "Well, we'll go down and let him in."
"Call from the window that you will be down directly."
"You must, or I shall think you are a thief, too."
Thus constrained, Tony called out that he would come down at once.
"I thought you'd think better of it," muttered Rudolph. "Hurry down, and waste no time."
Five minutes later, Abner and Tony crept down stairs, the former armed with a tough oak stick.
Unsuspicious of danger, Rudolph took a position on the door-step. He was incensed with Tony for having given him so much unnecessary trouble, and he was resolved to give the boy a lesson.
It was quite dark in the shadow of the house, and when the door opened, Rudolph, supposing, of course, it was Tony who had opened it, seized the person, whom he saw but dimly, by the arm, exclaiming venomously, as he tried to reach him:
"I'll teach you to keep me waiting, you young rascal."
He was not long in finding out his mistake.
Abner was considerably larger and more muscular than the tramp, and he returned the compliment by shaking off Rudolph's grasp, and seizing him in his own vise-like grasp.