I don’t have to pay it back.’
‘Your memory is not too good. I didn’t make you a present of two hundred dollars. You were supposed to pay it back when you got a cheque from your father.’
‘Well, the cheque hasn’t come yet.’
‘I think it has come,’ Hal said. ‘You’re wearing a new suit. You can’t buy a suit of clothes with no money.’
‘Well,’ said Vic, ‘you can whistle for your two hundred dollars.’
‘If that’s the way you feel,’ said Hal, ‘I’ll have to write to your father. Not just about the two hundred dollars. The principal thing he should know about is the way you are breaking the law by killing animals in the Gir Forest and risking ten years in prison.’
Vic laughed. Tat chance you have of writing to my father. You don’t know his address. Cleveland is a big city. If you just put ‘Mr. Stone’ on the envelope, the post office is not going to hunt up the address. And I’m not going to give it to you. There’s no way in the world that you can write to my dad.’
I’m not so sure about that,’ Hal said.
There was one way he could reach Vic’s father. Vic had spent one term at Western Reserve-Case University. Hal wrote to the dean of the university:
Dear Sir - I enclose a letter to Mr. Stone, father of Vic Stone who spent a semester in your college. His address will be in your records. Would you be so kind as to address the letter properly and mail it to Mr. Stone?
In his letter to Vic’s father, Hal wrote:
Dear Mr. Stone - Your son Vic is working for me. I am afraid he will go to prison for a ten-year term if the police learn that he is shooting wild animals without a licence. The police here are very strict. I like Vic and want to save him from a lot of trouble. He is not completely honest. I loaned him two hundred dollars, and now he says it was not a loan but a present. The money doesn’t matter so much as the fact that he is breaking the law and may have to suffer for it. We don’t want him to have such bad luck.
When the reply came Hal learned that Vic’s father’s name was Robert Stone and his address was Parkwood Drive, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Mr. Stone wrote as follows:
Dear Mr. Hunt - I am sorry to hear that my son, Vic, is giving trouble. At this distance, I can do nothing for him. He is almost twenty and should be able to take care of himself. He ran away from home and made his mother, already a sick woman, so unhappy that her condition deteriorated and a week ago she died. I want nothing more to do with the brat. I sent him a good cheque, but that will be the last. As to the two hundred dollars, I am enclosing a cheque made out to you for that amount. I thank you for your interest in my son but so far as I am concerned he is dead.
Hal showed the letter to Vic. It was a great surprise to the runaway.
‘How did you get his address?’
‘Don’t worry about that. The thing that should really be very heavy on your conscience is that you speeded your mother’s death. I think you should go home now and make peace with your father.’
‘Not on your life. If he doesn’t want me I don’t want him. You were a sneak to tell him about me.’
‘I thought he might be able to help you. But he has good reason to be sick of you because of the death of your mother. Now you still have a chance to make good. You are still my friend, and I am ready to pay you for every animal you bring in. Let’s forget about all this and shake hands.’
Vic put his hands in his pockets. ‘No thank you. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole. I’ll get even with you for this.’
‘For what? For keeping you out of prison?’
‘I’d rather go to prison than work for you.’ And with this final taunt, Vic strode off to the cabin where he lived with Jim and Harry.
Vic growled and moped for two days. Then he said to his two companions. ‘I’ve got it. I’ve got it.’
‘Got what?’
‘I’ve got a way to get back at Hal Hunt.’
‘Why do
‘Your memory is not too good. I didn’t make you a present of two hundred dollars. You were supposed to pay it back when you got a cheque from your father.’
‘Well, the cheque hasn’t come yet.’
‘I think it has come,’ Hal said. ‘You’re wearing a new suit. You can’t buy a suit of clothes with no money.’
‘Well,’ said Vic, ‘you can whistle for your two hundred dollars.’
‘If that’s the way you feel,’ said Hal, ‘I’ll have to write to your father. Not just about the two hundred dollars. The principal thing he should know about is the way you are breaking the law by killing animals in the Gir Forest and risking ten years in prison.’
Vic laughed. Tat chance you have of writing to my father. You don’t know his address. Cleveland is a big city. If you just put ‘Mr. Stone’ on the envelope, the post office is not going to hunt up the address. And I’m not going to give it to you. There’s no way in the world that you can write to my dad.’
I’m not so sure about that,’ Hal said.
There was one way he could reach Vic’s father. Vic had spent one term at Western Reserve-Case University. Hal wrote to the dean of the university:
Dear Sir - I enclose a letter to Mr. Stone, father of Vic Stone who spent a semester in your college. His address will be in your records. Would you be so kind as to address the letter properly and mail it to Mr. Stone?
In his letter to Vic’s father, Hal wrote:
Dear Mr. Stone - Your son Vic is working for me. I am afraid he will go to prison for a ten-year term if the police learn that he is shooting wild animals without a licence. The police here are very strict. I like Vic and want to save him from a lot of trouble. He is not completely honest. I loaned him two hundred dollars, and now he says it was not a loan but a present. The money doesn’t matter so much as the fact that he is breaking the law and may have to suffer for it. We don’t want him to have such bad luck.
When the reply came Hal learned that Vic’s father’s name was Robert Stone and his address was Parkwood Drive, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. Mr. Stone wrote as follows:
Dear Mr. Hunt - I am sorry to hear that my son, Vic, is giving trouble. At this distance, I can do nothing for him. He is almost twenty and should be able to take care of himself. He ran away from home and made his mother, already a sick woman, so unhappy that her condition deteriorated and a week ago she died. I want nothing more to do with the brat. I sent him a good cheque, but that will be the last. As to the two hundred dollars, I am enclosing a cheque made out to you for that amount. I thank you for your interest in my son but so far as I am concerned he is dead.
Hal showed the letter to Vic. It was a great surprise to the runaway.
‘How did you get his address?’
‘Don’t worry about that. The thing that should really be very heavy on your conscience is that you speeded your mother’s death. I think you should go home now and make peace with your father.’
‘Not on your life. If he doesn’t want me I don’t want him. You were a sneak to tell him about me.’
‘I thought he might be able to help you. But he has good reason to be sick of you because of the death of your mother. Now you still have a chance to make good. You are still my friend, and I am ready to pay you for every animal you bring in. Let’s forget about all this and shake hands.’
Vic put his hands in his pockets. ‘No thank you. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole. I’ll get even with you for this.’
‘For what? For keeping you out of prison?’
‘I’d rather go to prison than work for you.’ And with this final taunt, Vic strode off to the cabin where he lived with Jim and Harry.
Vic growled and moped for two days. Then he said to his two companions. ‘I’ve got it. I’ve got it.’
‘Got what?’
‘I’ve got a way to get back at Hal Hunt.’
‘Why do
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