“Others saw that,” said Lester. “There were plenty of witnesses to his assault upon me.”
“Methinks thou didst attempt to swipe him first,” murmured Douglas Dunton, “else these faithful eyes much deceived me.”
“Gol darned ef Vance warn’t tryin’ to dew somethin’ ter Hodge,” grinned Ephraim Gallup; “but he didn’t seem ter do it very much.”
“I simply attempted to protect Stella from his attack,” asserted Lester. “I saw him seize her and kiss her in the most violent and offensive manner, and——”
Stella interrupted him with a laugh.
“Offensive to whom?” she asked.
“To you, of course, for you struggled to throw him off.”
“Now, you saw that in your mind, Lester, my boy,” she declared. “I did not struggle.”
Vance was astounded.
“But you—you screamed,” he fluttered, hesitatingly.