The fellow gave a yell, reeled and fell over in the gutter, while the other one jumped in and caught Dick by the throat.
“I’ll kill you for this!” he hissed, whipping out a long knife and flourishing it around the neighborhood of Dick’s heart, as he backed him up against the post.
CHAPTER II.
ANOTHER MYSTERY OF A DIFFERENT SORT.
Dick was in a dangerous fix.
The fellow who had caught hold of him was very drunk and had a grip like a vise.
The two girls screamed, while Dick tried to grab the knife which the “lusher” kept flourishing, swearing horribly at Dick all the while.
How it would have ended if help had not come promptly it is impossible to say, but, as it happened, just at this critical moment a man came dashing around the corner.
He was a tall and very thin person, shabbily dressed in an old ulster and a battered plug hat.
He seemed to take in the situation at a glance and pounced upon the “lusher” without ceremony, wrenching away the knife and flinging it into the street, pounding the fellow about the head and face with such vigor that he promptly took to his heels and made off, followed by his friend.
“There!” exclaimed the man in the ulster. “There! That’s the way to do it! Ladies, your most obedient! Let me see, have I not the pleasure of addressing Miss Clara Eglinton? Ah, yes. I thought so. Miss E., your humble servant. Yours, too, Miss What’s-your-name, and yours, my dear sir. My name is Mudd. [Martin Mudd]. I am always ready and willing to come to the assistance of any one in distress.”