Down came that slender cudgel, striking Dan a light blow squarely top of his head.

“O-o-ow!  Help!  Quit that!” screamed Dan Jaggers.

“Lie still, then,” commanded Hal, sternly.  “And let go of Jack, or I’ll use this stick for I’m worth.”

Brave enough while he thought he had a good fighting chance, Dan cowered under the menace of that club.  He submitted to being rolled on his back, pleading: 

“Don’t club me!  I’ll be quiet.”

“See that you are, then,” ordered young Benson, kneeling on his opponent’s chest.  “Remember, Dan, that there are two of us.  We mean to win, no matter how ugly a fight we have to put up.”

“Want the gag that you threw away when you jumped up, Jack?” asked Hal, with a delighted grin.

“No; we don’t need to gag him.  Jaggers, roll over on your face, and don’t you dare make any attempt to get up,” ordered the submarine, boy, rising from his prostrate foe, while Hastings stood ready to use the stick.

Dan obeyed.  Jack took the slim cudgel from, his chum, who, at a silent signal, slipped back and picked up some of the slashed cord.  There was enough of it to accomplish the tying of Jaggers.

“See here,” whined Dan, “you’re not going to take me to Dunhaven?”

“We’re going to get that money away from you, and take it to its rightful owner,” retorted Jack, tersely, as he commenced to tie the knots, while Hal held the cudgel conveniently close to the bully’s head.

Dan, however, had hardly a thought of making any fight.  Jack, alone, was nearly a match for him.  The two churns, acting together, could overcome him easily enough at any time.

“Oh, I’ll give up the money,” promised Dan Jaggers, willingly.

“Thank you,” returned Jack, dryly.  “However, we’ll take it ourselves—­and right now,” he added, as he finished tying the knots about Dan’s wrists.

The rifling of Jaggers’s pockets brought to light all of Mr. Farnum’s money except the five dollars Dan had spent in Dunhaven the night before.  However, the boys’ own money, that had been taken from their pockets, and which was now found in one of Owen’s vest pockets, made up the full sum of eight hundred dollars.

“You fellers win, and I lose a good time,” muttered Dan, mournfully.  “But say, now you’ve got the cash again, set me free before ye start for Dunhaven.  Don’t leave me tied up like this.”

“We won’t,” Jack promised him, grimly.  “We’ll take you with us.”

“Not to Dunhaven!” screamed the bully.

“Even to Dunhaven,” mocked Hal.

“But they’ll send me to jail,” protested the scared wretch.

“Well,” insinuated Benson, “can you imagine any other place that would be as suitable for a fellow of your kind?”

“You fellers promised me ye wouldn’t take me to Dunhaven, if I stopped fighting,” whined Jaggers.

“We promised you nothing of the sort,” retorted Jack.  “Now, come.  Up on your feet with you!”