"Get outer my way!" stormed Jake. "That young one there smashed my wheel, and the other one is wanted—she's wanted by the officers—she stole a automobile and set my pop's barn on fire—"
"That's a likely story—I don't think!" sneered the farmer's boy. "Get back now! Leave them alone, do you hear? If you try to touch them again, I'll knock you into the middle of next week—"
But Jake was too enraged to be afraid, as in his sober senses he certainly would have been. And rashly he made a quick leap forward, and tried to get out of the way of the big young fellow who was between him and the girls. There wasn't any fight; it would not be fair to dignify what followed with such a name. Jake was knocked down by the first blow; he tried to get up, and was promptly knocked down again. That brought him to his senses.
"Had enough?" asked his conqueror, simply.
And Jake, lying in the dust at his feet, sobbing, and trying to pull himself together, stammered out, "Yes!"
"All right! Get up, and go over there by the side of the road and sit down. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay there, too, or else turn around and go where you came from. If you follow us you'll get into trouble—more than you're in now, and that seems to be about all you can handle, judging from the looks of you."
Then he turned away contemptuously, and went back to Dolly and Bessie, who were watching him admiringly.
"Isn't he splendid—so brave and strong?" cried Dolly.
"It's a good thing for us he came along," said Bessie. "Jake is strong enough to hurt us or do anything he likes to us, but I always knew that he couldn't do anything against a boy his own size. I wish they hadn't had to fight, but in a case like this it's all right, because it's the only thing to do."
"Well, I like a boy who can fight when he has to," said Dolly, stoutly. "I haven't any use for sissies, and I think that's all Jake really is, for all his bluster."