No wonder the bruised and almost helpless man-hunter groaned with
inward anguish at the sight.
He fell no easy prey into the hands of his enemies, however.
Staggering backward, and easing his bleeding relative to the ground,
he turned with a mad cry and dashed at the throat of Professor
Darlington Ruggles.
Both men staggered across the floor against the stairs.
"I will strangle you for this," hissed the enraged detective.
"Help!" gasped Ruggles.
Brower came to his assistance with a vengeance, and rained terrific
blows upon the head of Dyke Darrel with the butt of his revolver. Soon
the mad grip relaxed from the throat of Ruggles, and Dyke Darrel sank
a bleeding and insensible mass to the floor.
Panting and gasping, Professor Ruggles leaned against the stairs and
gazed about him in the gloom.
The lamp had been overturned in the struggle, and at the last,
darkness reigned supreme.
"I've fixed him, Professor," growled Nick Brower, in a savage
undertone.
"I hope so, the devil. He went for me with the venom of a tiger. Have
you a match?"
"Yes."
"Let's have a light. I'm afraid you have done a miserable job, Nick."
Inside of five minutes the overturned lamp was recovered and burning
once more.
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