Hallo turned a corner; Dick hurried a little. And, as he rounded the corner in his turn, there was Hallo—waiting! At the sight of Dick he almost screamed, but choked the cry.
"So it's you, is it?" he cried. He made a savage rush, his arms outstretched like those of a gorilla.
CHAPTER XIV
THE EXPLOSION
But the sight of the wicked looking little gun in Dick's hand stopped his rush. Mouthing his words, venomous hate in his eyes, he checked himself.
"What do you want, you little devil?" he said, grittingly.
"Turn around!" said Dick, savagely. Somehow that wild rush that had stopped just as the man's cruel arms were about to close about him had aroused something in Dick that he had never felt before. For the first time he knew what it meant to see red. He felt that he would like to have Hallo down and beat him with his fists, with the butt of his pistol—with anything, if it would only hurt his enemy enough!
Hallo tried to meet his eyes for a moment. Then he turned round, so that his back was to Dick. The scout pressed the muzzle of the little automatic, that, despite its tiny proportions, was still such a deadly weapon, into the small of Hallo's back.
"Do you feel that?" he said. "And do you know that I can't miss when you're so close to me? Don't think I am afraid to shoot because I tell you right now, Mike Hallo, that I'll fire the first time you don't do exactly as I say."