“Look at this, Dip!” exclaimed Cliff, turning to his new friend, and holding out the money. “Trying to knock me off for half a buck. What do you think of that?”
The altercation caught the attention of the only other men in the room — four tough individuals who were sitting at a table. One of them came forward. Dip was not acquainted with the place.
He did not know that this man was the proprietor; and that the other three were his friends. Cliff was familiar with that fact, however. He saw that Dip resented the interference, so he turned to the bartender, leaving the proprietor to Dip.
Quick words followed. The proprietor gripped Cliff’s shoulder. Cliff turned and pushed him aside; then swung quickly back toward the bartender, who was weighing an empty bottle between his hands.
“Try to club me, will you?” demanded Cliff.
With that, he flung himself over the bar and seized the man in the white apron.
Dip looked just in time to see the bartender swing his arm back with the bottle. He thought that Cliff was trying to save himself. He did not realize that Cliff was actually the aggressor.
The proprietor made a grab for Cliff. Again, Dip misunderstood the action. He did not know that the interfering man simply wanted to prevent a fight. Dip swung a powerful punch to the fellow’s jaw. The proprietor dropped like a chunk of heavy wood.
Cliff was grappling with the bartender, wresting the bottle from the man’s hand. Dip started to pull a gun from his pocket, but he never got that far.
The three men at the table were upon him as one. Down he went, beneath a whirl of flying fists. A hard object cracked him in back of the ear, and Dip Riker knew no more.