“Richard, my lively young gazelle, it was a sight to gladden the heart and bring tears of joy to the eye,” put in Jack Ready. “I wanted to slip into the fracas, and gently t’ump somebody, but your greedy brother insisted that you should have all the fun. He wouldn’t let me mingle.”
The policeman now came into the midst of the crowd, and demanded to know what was happening. He regarded Old Joe with suspicion, and seemed rather anxious to arrest somebody.
A citizen, however, explained the matter to him, and he looked Dick Merriwell over curiously.
“That boy?” he asked, as if in doubt.
“That’s the one,” answered the citizen.
“Did up Squinty Jim?”
“He did.”
“I’m glad of it, but it don’t seem possible. Squinty’s one of the worst characters in this ward, and he’s always fighting and whipping somebody.”
“He struck more than his match this time.”