"All right. Give it here."
"What do you want it for?"
"Somebody might attack me for my money," said Rufus. "If they do, I'll give 'em a rap with this."
The money was paid over, and the bat changed owners. It was heavy, and of hard wood, and in the hands even of a boy might prove a formidable weapon.
CHAPTER XXII.
A RESCUE.
Armed with the bat, Rufus took his way up-town. As the distance was considerable, he jumped on board a horse-car. The conductor, noticing the bat, asked him whether he was going to play a game by moonlight.
"Yes," said the newsboy. "I belong to a club called 'The Owls.' We can play best in the dark."
He got out of the car at the point nearest to the place which he had heard mentioned as the probable scene of attack, and walked cautiously towards it. He had no doubt of being in full time, for it was not yet half-past eleven. But circumstances had hastened the attack; so that, as he turned the corner of a quiet side street, he was startled by seeing a gentleman struggling desperately in the hands of two ruffians. He saw at a glance that they were the same he had overheard in the oyster saloon.
The gentleman appeared to be overpowered, for he was on the ground, with one man clutching his throat to prevent his giving the alarm, while the other was rifling his pockets.
There was no time to lose.