the figure of the dance was new to jack, but the girl was perfectly acquainted with it, and she piloted him at first, till he caught on, for it proved simple enough.
she was a graceful dancer. jack found opportunities to converse with her. at first she was rather reticent, but he drew her out, and he was surprised to find her an agreeable and intelligent talker. he introduced himself, and she told him her name was jennie wren. she said her father had been to virginia to get out ship timber, but she had never been farther away than boston.
“boston is a splendid city,” said jack. “i haven’t been able to spend much time there.”
“i spent several months there,” she declared.
“indeed! you were fortunate.”
“i think so, but you see i earned all the money to pay my tuition.”
“your tuition?”
“yes. i took a course at the boston conservatory of music.”
diamond nearly dropped. for some moments he was dazed and could not say a word. this girl had attended the boston conservatory of music, she was pretty and seemed refined, and she was to be married to a big, bewhiskered, hulking, red-shirted ruffian who proclaimed[174] his ignorance by his general appearance, as well as his talk.
diamond pitied her, for he had heard enough to know she was being forced into the marriage against her wishes. it was plain she really cared for the respectable-appearing young man named bill.
when there was another opportunity to talk, the girl said:
“i taught school a long time to earn the money, but i’ve never regretted spending it as i did.”
“that’s nice,” murmured diamond, stupidly, for he was at a loss for words now.
“sometimes,” pursued the girl, “i’ve regretted that i came back here, but my father has been very good, and i could not leave him.”
“of course not.”
jack could not talk. he understood the situation now, and his brain was in a whirl. through his head flashed wild schemes for rescuing this girl from the red-shirted ruffian and giving her to the one she loved. the thought that she might be forced into marriage with the big brute in the red shirt caused the virginian to grind his teeth.
diamond longed to talk to her of this, but he knew there was no way of doing so on such short acquaintance. after a time he recovered enough to talk of music, upon which he was posted and in which he was interested, and this subject proved a sympathetic bond between them.
the girl was pleased with jack, for she saw in him the perfect gentleman, who treated her with as much courtesy as if she had been the finest lady in the land.
[175]
the dance was almost over when she shyly asked him if he waltzed. he did. she said it was not easy to find partners for the waltz, and then she blushed furiously and laughed to cover her confusion. jack asked her to waltz with him.
“the next waltz?” she murmured.
“of course.”
“i will. they will have a waltz after this dance, i think.”
when the quadrille was over, jack escorted her to the ladies’ dressing room, and waited outside for her to reappear.
barely had she entered when the big red-shirted man rudely pushed past diamond, threw open the door of the room and entered, regardless of the fact that he had no business in there.
jack hesitated, more than half tempted to follow. while he was hesitating, there came a shriek from the room.
with one bound the virginian flung open the door and plunged in, beholding a spectacle that aroused him to such fury as he had not felt in months.
the man had the girl by the neck, and he was shaking her in a most brutal manner.
with a shout and a bound, the southerner was on him. he struck the brute behind the ear, and hurled him against the wall with the force of the blow. then he caught the half fainting girl in his arms.
but diamond had made a mistake in thinking the blow, which would have knocked out an ordinary man, must settle the ruffian for a time.
[176]
the man recovered in a twinkling, and then, with a snarl of fury, he lunged at diamond, tearing the girl from jack and sending her staggering into a corner.
the virginian felt a grip of iron close upon him. he tried to twist about, but it was not possible to do so in that clutch. then he realized that the man had the strength of a samson.
“cuss ye!” grated the big ruffian. “i’ll fix ye!”
holding jack with one hand, he struck at him with the other. the virginian dodged his head to one side, and the blow missed. but this simply served to make the ruffian still angrier.
however, before he could strike again, another person came rushing into the dressing room.
it was frank merriwell.
merry instantly saw his friend was in a bad scrape, an he flew at the red-shirted man.
once more the ruffian received a frightful crack under the ear, and diamond was torn from his clutch at the same moment.
“look out for the girl!” came from merriwell, and then he followed the man up.
frank merriwell was a scientific fighter. he did not propose to let the brute get a clutch on him, for something told him the man had wonderful strength.
before the man could recover, merry hit him again and again; but the blows did not seem to have any great effect, for, with a roar of rage, the wretch recovered and came at him.
instantly merriwell bounded backward and out through[177] the open door, knowing it would not do to be cornered in that small room.
the man followed.
there were screams in the hall, hoarse shouts and the rush of feet.
“a fight! a fight!”
that was the cry.
“mike will kill ther kid!” shouted a voice.
diamond came lunging out of the dressing room, eager to stand by merriwell. he sought to get at the ruffian, but he was grabbed by the other red-shirted fellow, and a voice jabbered:
“you no do dat! i take de han’ in dis. levi pombere he look out for you. how you to like dat?”
then he struck diamond with his fist.
it was the french canadian, who was evidently a friend of the big man who was trying to smash merry.
by this time diamond was like a wildcat. he went at the fellow with such fury that the “canuck” fell back, vainly trying to defend himself from the shower of blows which stung his face, beat on his eyes, flattened his nose and bewildered him generally.
diamond followed up every advantage. never in all his life had he fought with such frenzy. the canadian could not stop him, and soon the fellow’s face was cut and bleeding in several places. then jack knocked him down, waited for him to get up, and knocked him down again. the astounded and damaged man, who had fancied he was dealing with a boy he could handle easily, scrambled on[178] his hands and knees toward the stairs, reached the head and rolled clean to the bottom.
around the hall men and girls were standing against the wall, with their feet on the bench, watching the fight. not a few of them had witnessed a fight at a country dance before that, but this one was a revelation, for they saw two beardless lads whipping two men who seemed able to eat the boys, and who had the reputation of having cleaned out a dozen men.
the fight between merriwell and the big man was fully as fierce as the one between diamond and the canadian. frank took care not to let the ruffian get hold of him. he dodged under the man’s outstretched arms, hitting him in the wind till the big fellow was doubled up. then frank forced the man back. when they were about ten feet from the door that opened out upon the stairs, frank struck the ruffian a fearful blow, sending him staggering back and back till he passed out through the door and went crashing to the bottom of the stairs, landing on the canadian, who lay there groaning.
some men went down and found both men at the foot of the stairs, completely knocked out. then they were carried away.
the news was brought back into the hall, and merriwell and diamond were surrounded by an admiring crowd. all the men wished to shake hands with the wonderful fighters, while some of the girls actually expressed a desire to hug them.
“do you know who you whipped, young man?” asked one of the male witnesses.
[179]
“i know i did my best to whip a big brute,” answered frank, quietly.
“well, that big brute, as you call him, has the reputation of being the worst man on the penobscot. why, he’s mike sullivan, and he’s known from the allaguash to bangor.”
“mike sullivan!” exclaimed frank. “isn’t he a river driver?”
“he is; and he’s boss of a crew that’s comin’ down the river with a drive. he came on ahead to be at this dance.”
frank turned to jack.
“by jove!” he exclaimed. “mike sullivan is the boss of fred forest’s crew!”
“that doesn’t make any difference,” said jack. “he deserved all he got—and more.”
then he went away to search for the pretty girl he had defended.
the boys were urged to leave the hall, for it was said sullivan and pombere would return as soon as they were patched up; but they showed no fear, and they remained.
jack danced with jennie wren twice, and, when he left, near midnight, he had the satisfaction of seeing her waltzing with bill.
