"Oh, father!" she said, "I want to leave this horrible place. Oh! don't say anything, but come home."
"You had better leave," said Porter; "and if you were not an old man, and your daughter was where she should be—at home—I would knock you down. I would allow no man who was able to defend himself to say so much to me without making him sorry for it."
"You wouldn't," said a tall, athletic young man, stepping forward as he spoke. "Well, I will give you an opportunity to make good your words. I say that the man who is contemptible enough to make use of the language you have, in the presence of a young lady, is a bully, a brute, and a miserable coward. Now, make good your boast."
Porter, stung by the epithets applied to him, sprang with the fury of a tiger at the young man who thus defied him; but if he expected to surprise him by the suddenness of his attack, or to crash him with his vast bulk, he counted without his host, for the young man, with the agility of a cat, stepped to one side, and, as he did so, struck Porter such a blow that he fell to the floor as one dead. He then turned to Allie as if nothing had happened, and said, with gentle courtesy:
"Miss Ashton, this is no place for you; if you will leave, I will accompany Mr. Ashton and you home."
"Oh! is he dead?" she said, as she viewed with anxiety and alarm the prostrate form of the brutal ruffian.
"You need not be in the least alarmed about that, miss," said one who was bending over him; "Joe Porter ain't so easily killed as that; though I tell you, that young fellow's blow is like a kick from a boss. He did hit him a stunner, but I must say he just got what he deserved."
Just then Porter, in whose face they had been sprinkling water, began to show signs of life and to mutter fearful oaths against Ashton, Allie, and the young man who had so nobly championed their cause.
"Let us go," said Allie; "let us leave this awful place. Come, pa, for he will soon be up. Oh, how can you frequent such a place as this is?"
When they stepped outside, they found the twilight was deepening into darkness. Allie thanked the young man for his gallant conduct, but would not accept his proffered escort: she said she did not wish to trouble him further. As they parted she shook hands with him, as did her father, and bade him a cordial good-bye.