"I'll hammer yer life out o' yer carcass with my bare hands!"
"Possibly that will not be such a very easy trick to do."
The boy's coolness seemed to add to the fury of his assailant, and the man made another rush, which was easily avoided by Frank, who struck Miller a stinging blow.
"You'd better stop, Wade," advised the girl. "He-uns is too much fer you-uns, an' that's plain enough."
"Oh, I'll show ye—I'll show ye!"
There was no longer any reason in the man's head, and Frank saw that he must subdue the fellow some way. Miller was determined to grapple with the boy, and Frank felt that he would find the mountaineer had the strength of an ox, for which reason he must keep clear of those grasping hands.
For some moments Frank had all he could do to avoid Miller, who seemed to have grown stolid to the lad's blows. At last, Frank darted in, caught the man behind, lifted him over one hip, and dashed him headlong to the ground.
Miller lay still, stunned.
"Wal, that's the beatenest I ever saw!" cried Kate Kenyon, whose admiration for Frank now knew no bounds. "You-uns is jes' a terror!"
Barney laughed.