"Close her mouth!" put in Mumps. "If this keeps on we'll have the police down on us in no time!"
Again his hand was placed over Dora's mouth, while Baxter caught her from behind. Then Goss came up.
"We'll have to carry her," said the former bully of Putnam Hall.
"Take her by the feet."
"Wot's the meanin' o' this?" cried a voice out of the darkness, and the crowd found themselves confronted by a dirty-looking tramp who had been sleeping behind a pile of empty hogsheads.
"Help me!" cried Dora. "Bring the police! Tell them I am Dora
Stanhope of Cedarville, and that I—"
She could get no further, for Mumps cut her short.
"Dora Stanhope," repeated the tramp.
"If you forget this, my man," said Baxter, "here's half a dollar for you. This lady is my cousin who is crazy. She just escaped from an asylum."
"T'anks!" came from the tramp, and he pocketed the money in a hurry. Then he ran off in the darkness.
"He's going to tell the police anyway!" cried Goss. "You had better get away from here."