"Oh ho, it's you, Dick Hunt. I might a' known nobody else would sneak
up on a feller this way. Well, now, what are ye after?"
"I'm after givin' you the worst lickin' ever you had," muttered Dick,
trying in vain to free his arm from Theo's strong grip.
"What for?" demanded Theodore.
"For sneakin' into Todd's and then runnin' to tell my father where I
was. That's one thing, but there's plenty more't I'm goin' to settle
with you for, to-night," shouted Dick, as he pounded with his left
hand, and kicked viciously at the other's shins.
"I never spoke to your father that night," Theo declared, but Dick
responded, scornfully,
"Tell that to a greenhorn! Pitch into him, boys. He won't let go o'
me."
Seeing the others start toward him, Theo flung Dick's arm aside, and
bracing himself against a vacant house just behind him, faced them all
in dogged silence. They hesitated for a moment, but Dick cried out
again,
"Come on, boys!" and the four flung themselves upon Theo, striking,
pounding and kicking all together. He defended himself as best he
could, but the odds were too great. It was only when the boy slipped
to the ground in a limp, motionless heap, that his assailants drew
off, and looked uneasily at one another in the darkness.
"What'll we do now?" whispered Carrots.
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