But I've got just one
other little proposition. Ef ye don't cotton to that, why, thar
ain't agoin' to be no Fourth o' July balloon ascension around hyar."
Ned straightened up.
"Your proposition can't be a fair one or you wouldn't come like a
thief at this time of night--"
Jellup's pistol flashed in the air but fell back again as the
marshal's left hand shot upward and struck Ned full in the face.
Even as the tears sprang into the bound boys eyes and pain and anger
flushed his pallid face, the cowardly Jellup fell backward and
stumbled to the floor. Alan, standing just behind the man, had shot
his knees forward, striking Jellup's legs in the hollow of his
knees, and, thrown off his balance, the westerner lay sprawling on
the floor. Before the marshal's confederate could interfere, Alan,
tightly as he was bound, had flung himself on top of Jellup and with
all the power he could throw into the act had butted his head into
the marshal's face.
Am oath and a cry of pain indicated how true the stroke had been.
Both Ned and the companion of Jellup sprang forward at the same time
and the four fell in a silent distorted heap.
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