Dick sprang up. The bar that held the door fell, and it was flung open. With a spring, Dick was out into the lighted room, bending low and striking the man with the revolver like a battering-ram full and fair in the pit of the stomach, bowling him over. As Dan went down, his fingers contracted on the trigger of the pistol, and a shot rang out.
CHAPTER XXVI—FORCED TO WRITE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
FORCED TO WRITE.
Dick’s daring and reckless break for liberty might have been successful but for the fact that the outer door had been closed and securely fastened after the entrance of Spotted Dan.
Dan went down with a shock that jarred the whole building, and the boy leaped toward the door. Both Dillon and Mat uttered cries of astonishment and grabbed at him. He avoided their hands and reached the door, but as he was trying to unfasten it they fell on him.
Young Merriwell’s fighting blood was up, and for at least five minutes he gave the ruffians the hardest sort of a struggle. Using hands and feet in unison, he made them howl as he repeatedly hit and kicked them. With all his force, he drove his knee into Mat’s stomach and doubled the fellow up like a jackknife.
At this juncture the boy had nearly whipped both the men. Dillon was panting and dazed, but he had drawn a pistol and reversed it in his hand, so that he gripped the barrel. With the butt of the weapon he struck a blinding blow at the fighting boy’s head, and by chance the blow landed full and fair.
Down Dick dropped and lay stunned on the floor. Dillon stood looking down at the lad, muttering savagely, while Mat gasped for breath and held both hands on his stomach. Spotted Dan had recovered from the first shock, and now stood, with his hands on his hips and his feet wide apart, watching what transpired. He had not even lifted a hand to take part in the struggle.