"Git out o' my way!" was the savage answer.
"Stop right here!" commanded Milton, reining Mark in the way of the other horse.
The fellow struck Mark. "Git out o' my way!" he yelled.
Milton seized the bit of the other horse and held it. The fellow raised his arm and struck him twice before Bacon came thundering up.
"H'yare! Damn yeh—none o' that!"
He leaped from his horse, and running up, tore the rider from his saddle in one swift effort. The fellow struggled fiercely.
"Let go o' me, 'r I'll kill yeh!"
Bacon growled something inarticulate as he cuffed the man from side to side, shook him like a rag, and threw him to the ground. He lay there dazed and scared, while Bacon caught his horse and tied it to a tree.
He came back to the fellow as he was rising, and again laid his bear-like clutch upon him.
"Who paid you to do this?" he demanded, as Councill and the others came straggling up, their horses panting with fatigue.