There had been no explanation of the seemingly unprovoked blow, but the crowd surged forward, snatching Danes's body up as though he were something of which these men were anxious to be rid.
“Did he set the hotel afire?” demanded one man in husky tones.
“Did he?” chorused the crowd.
“Lemme through! Here's a rope!”
Then followed wild sounds that could not be distinguished as words. These men of Paloma seemed bent upon fighting for the possession of Frank Danes, who, having now recovered his senses, emitted shrill appeals for mercy.
“Here's the fire-bug! Here's the human match!”
“To the nearest tree!”
“I've got the rope ready!”
In another thirty seconds Frank Danes would have been dangling from a limb of the nearest tree. Again Reade and Hazelton sprang into action.
“Stand back, men—please do!” begged Tom, fighting his way through the thinnest side of the crowd. “Don't kill any man without a trial.”