"Mr. Elliston, did you come here to insult me?" "Certainly not," he answered in a gentler tone. "Forgive me, Nellie; I can't abide having another win the affections of one I so much covet. If you only knew, Nell----" "Mr. Elliston, don't." Both came to their feet. He advanced and seized her hands once more; nay, he suddenly flung one arm about her slender waist and drew her closely, at the same time imprinting a kiss on her cheek. "I love you, Nell, and will not give you up. Fly with me, darling, where no odious friends may come between us!" "Villain, release me!" Nell struggled with desperate energy, but she was as a child in the hands of the tall scoundrel. "No, no, little girl, I will not permit you to escape. I mean to make it impossible for you to wed another," grated the man, in a meaning voice, that sent a shudder of horror to the heart of pure Nell Darrel. Lucky was it for the girl that her visitor had not yet left the house. Nell screamed aloud, and then the hand of Elliston was pressed over her pretty mouth. Had the man been in his sober senses, he would never have attempted such bold work; but when in liquor Harper Elliston was far from prudent. "No nonsense now," he sneered. And then a door opened; a slender form crossed the floor, and as Elliston turned to confront the new-comer he received a straight left-hander in the chest that sent him back reeling. Gasping, and very red, Nell started aside, and held out her hand with a low cry of alarm. The stalwart Elliston soon regained his equilibrium, and faced the one who had dealt him such a furious blow--a slender youth not yet out of his teens, yet in whose blue eyes flashed a determined spirit. "Scoundrel!" ejaculated Elliston. He stood glaring at the boy with the venom of a mad serpent in his black eyes. "Get from this house, or I will call the police and have you put in the cooler," said the boy, quickly, standing with clenched hands in front of Nell, and returning the tall man's scowls with interest. "I'll smash every bone in your body, you insignificant little snipe," roared Elliston. Instead, however, of making the attempt, the man drew a small derringer from his pocket, and lifting the hammer, leveled it at the head of his youthful assaulter. "Gentlemen, please, please desist," pleaded Nell in a shaky voice. "This is no place for a quarrel." "It isn't, I admit," returned the boy, "but this sneak brought it about, and now the odds are so much against him, he has recourse to a deadly weapon. There is just that difference between us, Harper Elliston." The New Yorker started as the youth pronounced his name. He imagined that he was not known to the boy. "You see, I know you," proceeded the boy, noticing the man start. "I have had the villain Elliston pretty well described to me, and know that your act just now justifies me in calling you by that name. Shoot, coward, if you dare."