Joe Hooker gave a shout of rage, and he was on Frank just as Merry delivered that kick. It was too late for him to aid his brother, but he knocked Frank against the wall, and then tried to clutch him by the throat.
Right there Ephraim Gallup “got into gear.”
“Hold on, ye crooked critter!” he shouted. “Yeou can’t do that when I’m araound, by thutteration!”
He caught hold of Joe Hooker and gave him a yank backward.
In a moment Merriwell had recovered from the surprise of the sudden attack, and he also had hold of the cowboy’s younger brother.
“Let me have him, Ephraim!” he grimly commanded.
“I don’t want him,” confessed Gallup, as he relaxed his hold on Frank’s assailant.
Merry whirled Joe toward the door, and, a moment later, the fellow went sailing downstairs after his brother, on top of whom he landed.
Sam Hooker, stunned and bewildered, was just crawling to his feet when Joe came flying through the air, striking on his shoulders. The cowboy was hurled to the floor again by the crushing weight of his brother.
Joe was not seriously hurt, as his fall had been broken, but Sam lay still and groaned.