at the sight of these three graces both pretty and enid stopped short in some little uneasiness. the tramps also stopped short, and seemed to engage in a conversation about the two young people ahead of them on the road. pretty, on account of the extreme neatness of his costume, often got credit for being a much richer lad than he was. and enid also was as careful and as successful in her costumery as pretty. so the three tramps probably thought they had before them two children of wealth, who would be amply provided with pocket-money. but if they had only known how little the two really had in their possession, the adventure you are about to hear would never have happened. but while pretty was flicking the dirt at the end of his toe with his walking-stick, and wondering if he really cared to go any farther, the tramps moved toward him quickly. enid, being a girl, was frightened, and did not try to conceal it, but said: oh, pretty, lets go home at once! pretty, being a boy, thought he must make a display of courage, even if he didnt feel it; so, while his heart clattered away in his breast, and he could hardly find breath to speak, he said with some show of composure: yes, enid; i think we have walked far enough for to-day. then they whirled about and started for home at a good gait. they had not gone far when enid, glancing back over her shoulder, noticed that the tramps were coming up at a still more rapid walk. one of them, indeed, called out in a suspiciously friendly tone: hey, young feller, hold up a minute and tell us what time it is, will ye? enid gasped: lets run, pretty; come on. but pretty answered with much dignity: run? what for? and he turned and called back to the tramp: i dont know what time it is. then the tramps insisted again that pretty wait for them to come up. but when he continued to walk without answering them, they began to hurl oaths and rocks, and to run toward him. now pretty thought that discretion was the better half of valor, and he seized enids wrist and started off on a run, an act in which she was willing enough to follow his lead. but he had to explain, just to preserve his dignity: theyre three to one, you know. but while enid understood well enough the necessity for speed, she had no breath to expend expressing her appreciation of prettys delicate position. she was too frightened to run even as well as she knew how, and she was going at a gait that was neither very fast nor very economical of muscle and breath. pretty, however, ran scientifically: on the balls of his feet, with his head erect, his chest out, and his lips tightly locked. but before long he was doing all the work for two, and laboring like a ship that drags its anchor in a storm. they came to a hill now, and here enid leaned her whole weight upon him. he barely managed, with the most tremendous determination and exertion, to get her to the top of this long incline. as they labored up he decided in his own mind, and told her, that she must leave him and run on for help. just one tenth of a second his terrified mind had been occupied with the thought that he might run on alone and leave her. the tempting idea of self-preservation had whispered to him that if he stayed behind, it would only result in disaster to two, while if he ran on alone, at least one would be saved. but this cowardly selfishness he put away after the tenth of a second of thought, and now he was insisting, even against enids gasping objection, that she must run on alone and leave him to take care of the footpads. he did not know how he was going to do this, but he felt that upon him devolved the duty of being the zealous rear-guard to cover the retreat of a vanquished army. enid, however, was stubborn, and proposed to stay and fight with him, even drawing out a very sharp and very dangerous hat-pin to emphasize her courage. but pretty, while he blessed her for her bravery and her full-heartedness, still commanded her to run on and bring help, promising her that he would keep out of harms way till help could come. with this assurance, the poor girl staggered on, gaining strength from the necessity of speed to save her beloved pretty. at the brow of the hill pretty found himself alone, and turned and looked at the on-coming trio with defiant sternness. after a moment, which gave him some much-needed rest and a chance to gain new breath, he realized that one half a battle is with the warrior that is wise enough to make the first onslaught. so, after a tremor of very natural hesitation, the boy dashed full at the three hulkish tramps. xxi the overgrown brutes were so much taken aback at the change of front on the part of the young fellow whom they had hoped to run down like a scared rabbit, that they stopped short in sheer surprise. but this was only for a moment. then the leader of the three rushed forward, with a large club. he carried it high in the air in the same indiscreet manner in which pretty had once attacked the senior. just before the tramp and the boy came to close quarters pretty made a diving sidelong dodge, and as the tramps club whisked idly through the air past him, he dealt the fellow a furious blow across the left shin. now, as any one who was ever struck there knows, a mans shin is as tender as a bears nose; and the surprised tramp was soon dancing about in the air, hugging his bruised leg and yowling like a wildcat. but pretty had run on past, leaving him to his misery. now he came up to the other two, who moved in single file toward him. the first man pretty received right upon the point of his cane, driving the hard metal ferrule straight at the mans solar plexus. the combination of the mans rush and prettys powerful thrust was enough to lay the wretch upon the ground, writhing and almost unconscious. for the last thug pretty had prepared a beautiful back-handed slash across the face; but the villain, seeing what was in store for him, dropped down, and rushed at the boy low enough to evade the stick. pretty, however, had a check for this move also, and a quick step to one side saved him from the mans clutch. now he recovered himself quickly enough to deliver a vicious whack straight at the back of the mans heada blow that would have settled the tramps mind for some time to come, but the fellow was running so fast that pretty missed his aim, and his stout weapon only dealt a stinging blow upon the mans left shoulder. the thug ran on far enough to gain a good vantage-ground, and then, whirling, came at pretty again. now his uplifted hand held an ugly knife. the look of this was not pleasant to prettys eyes; but the excitement of the situation was much increased when a glance out of the side of his eye showed him that the first thug had regained enough nerve to come limping forward in the endeavor to throttle him. the men were not coming at him in such a way that he could use the point-and-butt thrust that he had learned for such occasions, so he decided instantly to repeat upon the first thug the shin-shattering blow that had been so successful before