"See here, Ernie," said Dick, "that's no way to act. Mr.--er--this
young gentleman defended you until I--"
"I saw him looking at my--my hump yesterday. He laughed at me," cried
the boy fiercely.
David's hand fell from his bloody cheek. "Laughed at you?" he cried.
"I _never_ did such a thing. You are mistaken."
"What were you laughing at, then?" demanded the unfortunate boy, made
over-sensitive by his dread of ridicule.
"I don't remember that I laughed," said David, perplexed and
distressed.
"Well, you did," defiantly.
David caught the look of profound embarrassment in Dick Cronk's face.
He felt a sharp pity for him, though he could not have explained why.
"I'm sorry you think that of me," he said. "And I am happy to have
come to your assistance just now. Let's be friends."
Dick pushed Ernie forward, gently but firmly. The hunchback extended
his hand grudgingly.
"All right," he said sulkily.
"Come on!" said Dick, suddenly alert. "The cops will be along here
directly. Let's get back to the lot. I'm not particularly anxious to
get pinched just now."
He winked at David in a most mysterious way, and then grinned broadly.
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