Then there was a great commotion in that saloon. Knives leaped into a hundred hands, and cries broke from as many throats. It seemed as if that shot had been the signal for a general riot. The friends of Esparto were not ready to stand still and see him cut down, and a general fight broke out in a minute.
A rush was made for Frank, but the boy leaped to the top of a table, and he held a revolver in either hand. With those weapons he stood the crowd off for a few seconds, saying to Ephraim:
“Open the window behind me! Be quick! It is our only chance to escape!”
Ephraim was somewhat dazed, but he soon recovered, and, as nearly all the attention of the crowd was given to Esparto and Frank, he succeeded in reaching the window.
But he could not open it!
In the meantime Frank’s peril was increasing with each passing second, and he knew he could not hold back that crowd of excited Spaniards much longer.
“It is the American who killed the bull!” shouted many voices.
“Kill him!” snarled Gonzalez, seeking to urge the mob on. “He has shot Pedor Dominican!”
“Open that window!” Frank again called, in English, to Ephraim.
“Hang the old thing! I can’t git her open.”