“Look here, you soldier captain, or whatever you are!” bellowed the senior Hyde. “You mind your own business. Putting this fellow in jail won’t do us any good, and we’re going to beat the hide off him. You keep out. Josh, go ahead and wallop him.”
The Hyde boy raised his whip but the colonel reached up, jerked it from his hand and threw it into a far corner. The Hydes grew red and clenched their fists.
“Let’s give them a good beating, Pa,” said the younger son, and he advanced. But the colonel drew his revolver and covered the three of them. The other cadets dropped their hands to the butts of their guns.
“Come a step nearer me and I’ll shoot you right through the leg,” promised the colonel, simply.
The threat stopped them in their tracks. Sullenly they fell back, hatred showing in their faces. The old man whooped faintly.
“That’s handling them,” he said, stirring eagerly. The colonel looked at him.
“You stay where you are, too, Mr. Vancouver,” he said. “We’ll have to turn you over to the law for punishment.”
“I ain’t the only one in this game,” blustered the old man.
“We know all about Mr. Maul,” said the colonel. The Hydes snapped to attention.
“Maul!” cried the father, harshly. “Old Maul is dead!”