“Call off the dog! Don’t you see he is tearing me to pieces?” roared Puffer.
“Bless my soul!” ejaculated the landlord, in bewilderment. “Where did he come from?”
“Take off the dog!” roared the professor again. Nelson Sturgis was the only one present who appeared to have his wits about him.
He approached, and seizing the animal by his collar, he forcibly pulled him away from his victim. The professor, whose leg had been badly torn, bent over and clasped his hands about the wounded place.
“Where did the dog come from, and how did he happen to attack you?” asked Sturgis.
“He was lying in wait here,” said the professor. “Won’t somebody kill him?”
“But how did you happen to be here?” asked Sturgis pointedly. “Is this your room?”
“No, it is the boy’s room.”
“Then how did you happen to be here?” persisted Sturgis.
“I heard a noise,” answered Puffer with some hesitation, “and thought the boy might be sick. I suppose it must have been the dog.”