"Yes, sir."
"No doubt you'd like it if that tall brute were here now," said Hayden, tauntingly.
"Yes," murmured Kit; "I wish my good friend Achilles were here."
"So that's his name, is it? Well, I wouldn't mind if he were here. Stubbs, I think you and I could do for him, eh?"
"I don't know," said Stubbs, dubiously.
"Well I do. He's only one man, while we are two, and strong at that."
"Oho!" thought Achilles, who was now within hearing. "So my friend, the miner, is getting valorous! Well, he will probably have a chance to test his strength."
By this time Hayden had got through with his taunts, and was ready to enjoy his vengeance.
"Your time has come, boy!" he said, fiercely. "Stand back, Stubbs!"
Bob Stubbs stepped back, and Dick Hayden raised the cruel cowhide in his muscular grasp. It would have inflicted a terrible blow had it fallen on the young acrobat. But something unexpected happened. The instrument of torture was torn from his hands, and a deep voice, which he knew only too well, uttered these words: "For shame, you brute! Would you kill the boy?"