Merriwell, Frank (Fictitious character) -- Juvenile fiction; Yale University -- Juvenile fiction
He made the mistake of supposing that he could hustle the intruder out
by mere force, and in so doing he put up both hands to catch Frank by
the shoulders.
This gave the athletic student a better opportunity than he could have
asked for. In quick succession the bartender got two blows, one full
upon the mouth, and the other on his neck.
He went down on the floor with a thump, and catching at the table for
support, overturned it. The bottle of wine fell upon him and drenched
him.
The others, who had staggered back under the force of Frank's first
blows, now tried to push their way out. The room was a very small one,
and there was but one door.
It was evident that they were not there for fighting, and had no wish to
defend their drunken companion, no matter what Frank's object in making
the attack had been.
As Frank's only anxiety was in getting Mellor away, he did not attempt
to stop the others from going out.
The rumpus attracted the attention of everybody in the main room of the
saloon, and by the time the bartender had been sent to the floor a dozen
or so others, most of them customers of the place, came crowding up to
see what was the matter.
"Letsh not fight, Mer'well," said Mellor, with a tremendous attempt at
dignity. "Letsh not get mixed up in a row."
He, too, tried to walk out, but the way was now barred with other
bartenders who had come to the relief of their comrade.
They might have fallen upon Frank and beaten him badly, for they far
outnumbered him, if it hadn't been that at that moment a policeman took
a hand in the affair.
He had been passing the side door of the saloon at the very moment when
Frank struck the glass from Mellor's hand.
He had entered at the first sound of a ruction, and had been in time to
get a glimpse of Frank as he struck the bartender to the floor.
There was a lot of excitement and confusion for a moment, during which
Frank stood with his fists still clinched and his jaws shut hard
together, waiting for the next turn.
Everybody connected with the saloon denounced him as an intruder, and
the one who had made all the trouble.
Frank thought hastily of explaining the real situation, but he refrained
from doing so, as that would surely make the whole thing public, and he
did not want any such disgrace to be attached to Yale's part in the
intercollegiate games.
So when the policeman roughly put him under arrest he submitted quietly
and went to the station house. A couple of bartenders followed, dragging
the almost helpless Mellor with them.
Yale's champion wrestler at that moment was too far gone to realize
fully what was taking place. He staggered along between the bartenders,
protesting that there had been a "mishundershtanding," that he was a
gentleman, and that as soon as the matter had been explained he would
return to the saloon and "set 'em up" for everybody.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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