Startled, he looked at the speaker. He was almost twice Johnny’s size. And he had help. A companion stood at his side. Together they glared at the boy.
“I walked in,” he said in deliberate tones.
“Well, walk out again.”
“Who says so? This is Angelo’s place.”
“It may be, and it may not. Out you go!”
Seizing the boy by the shoulder, they pushed him through the folding doors and, following, gave him a sudden shove and a vicious kick that landed him outside.
It was a brutal and cowardly act. Unfortunately for the perpetrator, he followed halfway through the door. Like a flash of light, Johnny was on his feet. The next instant his left arm was about the big man’s neck with a vise-like grip that both choked and silenced him in one act. Next Johnny’s good right played a tattoo on the other’s face. He went down like a log. With a deft twist, Johnny pitched him into the river.
Just in time he caught the shadow of the second man as he leaped toward him. Dropping like a deadfall, he stopped the headlong plunge of the man and sent him to join his pal in the river where they did a spluttering act.
“Coarse lot!” Johnny grumbled. “On second thought, I’ll not stay.”
Climbing the stairs, he vanished into the night.