How it would have ended it would be impossible to say. Strong, daring and skilled though they were, the soldier boys might have been beaten by superior strength.
But a heavy, blue-coated figure darted in, scattering the combatants. Then a Denver policeman gripped both Hal and Noll by the collar.
"Stop it! Stop, I tell ye!" ordered the policeman gruffly.
"Ye've got good game there, Johnson," called out the fellow Bill. "They're a nasty pair of brass buttons. They insulted my girl, and then pitched into me and my friend."
"I'll run these soldier-loafers in, Bill," agreed the policeman. "We've got too many of these soldier-loafers in the country. It's time for some of 'em to learn something."
For Bill and his friend were a pair of amateur thugs who were most useful to the ward's ruling political machine. Bill and his friend were often extremely useful in cleaning out hostile primaries, and in other dirty work incidental to city politics.
"Officer!" protested Corporal Hal.
"Shut up, ye loafer!" ordered the policeman.
"But this is——"
"Will ye shut up, now?"