CHAPTER XIV
THE ENEMY CHECKMATED
Bessie had eluded the furious Jake easily enough. Amazed by Dolly's onslaught, he had been too surprised to move quickly in any case, and, when he saw her trying to ruin his bicycle, he was diverted from Bessie and, shouting furiously, ran toward her with the idea of saving his wheel. So it was no trick at all for the two girls, light on their feet and graceful in their movements, to avoid the shambling, ungainly, overgrown boy, who, smarting from the pain of the scratches Dolly had inflicted, ran after them blindly.
Moreover, they had not gone very far when a farmer's boy came along, driving a surrey. He was laughing at the antics of Jake, and when he saw the two girls, he stopped his horses.
"Say, is that big lout trying to catch you two?" he asked.
"He certainly is!" said Dolly. "Are you going to let him do it?"
"You bet your life I'm not!" said the boy, getting down from the surrey quickly. "Just you watch those horses, and you'll see what I do to him. We don't think much of fellers who hit girls in these parts."
Jake was coming along puffing and blowing, and when he saw the two girls he gave a cry of triumph. But the farmer's boy checked that quickly, and gave him something else to shout about.
"Here, you big bully, what are you trying to do?" he demanded, setting himself squarely in Jake's path.