Ruddy was scarcely less nimble, and finding himself beset by so many enemies that he could not hold his own, dodged between the legs of the nearest, sending him heels over head to the ground.
A second shared his fate, and, by dodging to and fro, squirming like an eel as he passed one after another of the excited assailants, Ruddy reached the outskirts of the crowd.
He might have easily escaped then, but seeing the desperate situation of Rob, to say nothing of Chick, he sprang back into the fight like a little game-cock, that never knows when it is getting the worst of it.
Assailed upon every hand, Little Hickory, as valiant a battle as he was waging, sorely needed whatever assistance he could have. Regardless of what might follow, in his excitement and awakened determination to win at any cost, he sent his enemies reeling backward on either hand, fairly forcing his way through the crowd.
“Don’t let the hoodlums get away!” cried ’Squire Hardy, hurrying forward to join in the fray if necessary. “He’s killed Ralph!”
This announcement was enough to cause the men to take a hand in the affray, and they rushed into the exciting scene just as Rob had finally succeeded in reaching the side of Ruddy.
At that moment some one threw a stone the size of a man’s fist, and the missile striking Little Hickory, he fell to the ground with a low cry of pain.
“They’ve killed Rob!” cried Ruddy. “I’ll kill the hull scab of ’em!”
Catching up a handful of stones that lay only too handy for him, he began to hurl them into the midst of the crowd, which so frightened the men and boys that a hasty retreat was begun.
Crash went a pane of glass, where one of the rocks went hurling through the store window, followed by a series of wild cries: