In a moment, Frank had torn the girl from Harlow"s arms, and planted a hammer-like blow under the fellow"s ear.
Merry"s knuckles cracked on the neck of the young ruffian, and Harlow went down as if he had been struck by a club.
With the girl on his arm, his fist clinched, Frank stood over Rolf, ready to give him another if he tried to get up.
But Harlow lay gasping and quivering on the ground, knocked out for the moment.
The girl, who was almost swooning, slipped her soft arm about Frank"s neck, and then, to his astonishment, he heard her whisper:
"Frank! Frank! is it you-can it be?"
Then he looked at her, and, to his unbounded astonishment and joy, he saw resting against his shoulder the sweet, flower-like face of Elsie Bellwood.
Was he dreaming? For a moment it seemed that he must be. He doubted the evidence of his eyes.
Was this Elsie, his old-time girl, of whom he had thought so often and so tenderly-Elsie, of whom he had dreamed, and whom he longed to see-Elsie, blue-eyed, golden-haired, trusting and true!
How his heart leaped and fluttered! How the love-light leaped into his eyes! How his stern face softened!
It was Elsie-dear little Elsie-the old sea captain"s daughter, and, if possible, she was sweeter, prettier, more attractive than when last he had seen her.
She was pale when he first looked at her, but as she saw the joyous light of recognition in his eyes, the warm color stole into her cheeks, and she gasped with a delight that was almost childish.
"It is!" she panted; "it is Frank-my Frank!"
He drew her close to him, forgetting the scoundrel he had knocked down.
Both his arms were about her, and for the moment the joy of his heart was too deep for words.
She lay in his strong arms, laughing, almost crying, half hysterical, wholly happy. From the terror and despair of a few moments before to relief and joy of the present was so great a revulsion of emotions that she felt herself incapable of any movement or act.
It was the same n.o.ble fellow she knew so well, only it seemed that he was handsomer and n.o.bler in appearance than ever before. He was older, and there was more than a hint of dawning manhood in his face.
For the time, wrapped about with the unbounded delight of their unexpected meeting, they were utterly oblivious to their surroundings.
They did not see Rolf Harlow struggle to a sitting posture, rubbing the spot where Frank"s fist had been planted. They did not see him glaring at Merriwell with deadly hate, while he felt to make sure that his revolver was where his hand could find it quickly.
Harlow arose quietly to his feet, a.s.suming a crouching posture, ready to leap upon Frank, whose back was toward him.
At that instant, a handsome, black-eyed girl came running around the corner of the house, closely followed by another lad, the latter being the spy Merriwell and Diamond had detected in the bushes farther down the river.
A cry from the lips of the girl warned Frank, and caused him to whirl quickly about. As he did this, Harlow leaped and struck out with all his strength.
Frank was able to dodge slightly and avoid the full force of the blow.
However, he did not escape it entirely, and it staggered him. He released his hold upon Elsie immediately, for Harlow was closely following up the attack, and Merriwell saw he was in for a fight with the furious young scoundrel.
That would have not alarmed Frank, but Harlow called to the other lad:
"Here, Radford, jump in here and help me thump the stuffing out of him!
He"s alone! It"s the chap who caught you down the river, and he just hit me a thump when I wasn"t looking. Come on!"
"I"m with you!" shouted Radford. "We"ll lick him till he can"t stand!
This is our chance to get square!"
He hastened to join Harlow in the attack upon Frank.
Merriwell laughed. It was his old, dangerous laugh, which came from his lips when he was most aroused in time of peril.
"Come, on!" he invited, promptly. "Sail right in and lick me! I"ll watch and see how you do it! The way I feel now, it would take four or five more such chaps as you to do that little job! There is one for you, Radford!"
Harlow had struck at Frank. Merry dodged under his arm, came up behind him, and struck Radford a stinging blow before Rolf could turn about.
Then a furious struggle began, while the two girls, clasped in each other"s arms, looked on in terror, fearing the dauntless fellow who was battling against such odds would be severely punished.
"Who is he, Elsie?" gasped the other girl. "Isn"t he brave! Isn"t he smart! Oh, I never saw a fellow who could fight like that! I do admire a fellow who can fight!"
"It"s terrible!" whispered timid little Elsie, her hands clasped in distress. "A fight always terrifies me! But they can"t whip him!" she declared, with the utmost confidence. "I know they can"t!"
"Who is he? You must know him, and you have not told me who he is."
"That is Frank Merriwell, of whom I have told you so much, Kate," said Elsie, proudly. "He is the bravest fellow in the whole world!"
"Frank Merriwell?" cried Kate Spencer, for it was Kent Spencer"s sister.
"How can that be? How comes he here?"
"I don"t know yet, but he came just in time to save me from that Rolf Harlow, whom I fear and detest. He knocked Harlow down."
"And Berlin Radford was holding me so I could not come to your a.s.sistance when you were crying for help. They knew Aunt Hannah had gone to the store, and they saw Uncle Tobias row away in his boat. That was how they dared do it."
"Look!" gasped Elsie; "see how they are fighting now: It is dreadful!"
She covered her face with her hands, but the other girl continued to watch the fighting lads, her heart beating in sympathy for Frank Merriwell.
Radford was a savage fighter, and Merry found him even more formidable than Rolf Harlow. Radford was a member of the Alexandria Athletic Club, although he had been stopping in Blue Cove a few days.
Frank did not escape some punishment, but he skillfully managed to cause his enemies to interfere with each other to a certain extent, and when he did strike a blow they were certain to feel it.
Three times was Harlow sent to gra.s.s, and Radford was knocked down twice, the second blow causing blood to spurt from his nose, on which Merriwell"s hard fist had landed.
Still, encouraging each other, they pressed Frank hard. Finally, Radford got in a blow that brought Merriwell to his knees.
Elsie, who had uncovered her eyes, screamed with fear, and held her hands over her face once more.
Kate quivered with excitement and fear.
"Oh, the cowards!" she exclaimed. "He could whip either one of them alone!"
"And I can whip them both together!" panted Frank, who caught her words.
"On him-on him!" shouted Harlow. "Now is our time to do him up! We can finish him in a hurry!"