"I'll fix you, you young whelp!" roared Davenport, as he came again toward Jack.
"You leave me alone," returned Jack. "Don't you dare put your hands on me again!"
"Here, what's the rumpus?" demanded the driver of the automobile, a fellow named George Rogers.
The boys started to explain, not only for the benefit of Rogers, but also for the benefit of the workmen who were coming up.
"That whole bunch ought to be arrested!" blustered Slugger.
"That's what I say!" added Nappy, with his handkerchief to his bleeding nose.
"That man started it," declared Jack, pointing to Davenport. "He caught hold of me, and I told him to let me go. He had no right to put his hands on me."
After this there was a war of words in which Tate and Jackson, who had come up, joined. The oil well promoters were all anxious to do something to the Rover boys, and in this they were seconded by Nappy and Slugger. But, strange as it may seem, hardly any of the workmen took kindly to this.
"Oh, they're only a bunch of kids," said one of the men. "What's the use of bothering with them?"
"That man is mad at me because my father knocked him down twice the other day," declared Jack, turning to the workmen. "And he knows why he was knocked down," he added significantly.