He got his arm about the boy’s neck, the revolver fell to the ground, but Mudd never stopped to pick it up. He dragged Dick out of the cave—dragged him toward the edge of the precipice on the opposite side of the trail.
“Burn you, Dick Darrell!” he hissed. “You have gone a step too far this time. I did kill your father, and I’ll kill you!”
Bang! Bang!
Two shots suddenly rang out along the trail.
It was Doctor Dan.
He was bare-headed and his long hair was flying in the wind.
Two shots from his rifle went whizzing past Dick and Mudd.
They were not aimed to hit, as Doctor Dan explained afterward. He did not dare to, for fear of hitting Dick.
But Martin Mudd, coward that he was, had no notion of facing the Indian.
He struggled to free himself, and Dick let him go.