CHAPTER XIV.
THE HOT BLOOD OF YOUTH.
A cry of horror went up from those who beheld the peril of the brave boyand the Queen of Flowers, for it looked as if both must be impaled bythe wicked horns of the mad steer.
Well it was that Frank was a lad of nerve, with whom at such a moment tothink was to act. Well it was that he had the muscles and strength of atrained athlete.
Frank did not drop the girl to save himself, as most lads would havedone. She felt no heavier than a feather in his arms, but it seemed thathe would be unable to save himself, if he were unincumbered.
Had he leaped ahead he could not have escaped. With all the energy hepossessed, he sprang backward, at the same time swinging the girl awayfrom the threatening horns, so that his own body protected her in casehe was not beyond reach of the steer.
In such a case and in such a situation inches count, and it proved thusin this instance.
One of the steer's horns caught Frank's coat sleeve at the shoulder, andripped it open to the flesh as far as his elbow, the sharp point seemingto slit the cloth like a keen knife.
But Frank was unharmed, and the unconscious girl was not touched.
Then the steer crashed into the flower barge.
Frank was not dazed by his remarkable escape, and he well knew the perilmight not be over.
Like a leaping panther, the boy sprang from the spot, avoiding other madsteers and frantic men and women, darted here and there through theflying throng, and reached a place where he believed they would be safe.
It was a brave and nervy act--the act of a true hero.
The stampeded steers dashed on, and the danger at that point was past.Men and women had been trampled and bruised, but, remarkable though itseemed, when the steers were finally captured or dispatched, it wasfound that no person had been killed outright.
Men crowded about Frank and the Flower Girl. The lad had placed the girlupon some steps, and he called for water.
"Remove her mask," directed some one. "Give her air."
"Yes, remove her mask!" cried scores of voices.
They were eager to see her face, that they might again recognize thegirl who had passed through such peril.
Frank hesitated, although he also longed to look on the face of the girlhe had saved. She was most beautifully formed for a girl of her age, andthat her face was pretty he had not a doubt.
He reached out his hand to unfasten the mask. As he did so his wrist wasclutched by strong fingers, and a panting voice hissed in his ear:
"Would you do it? Well, you shall not! I will take charge of that younglady, if you please!"
Looking over his shoulder, Frank saw the dark, excited face of a youthof twenty or twenty-one. That face was almost wickedly handsome,although there was something decidedly repellent about it. The eyes wereblack as midnight, while the lips were full and red.
With a twisting snap Frank freed his wrist.
"You?" he said, calmly--"who are you?"
"One who knows this unfortunate young lady, and has a right to protecther."
"Which is ver' true, sah," declared a man with a bristling whitemustache and imperial, who stood just behind the youth with the darkface. "I give you my word of honah, sah, that it is true."
The words were spoken with great suavity and politeness, and Frank notedthat the speaker seemed to have a military air.
Frank hesitated, and then straightened up, stepping back and bowing, ashe said:
"That settles it, gentlemen. If you know the young lady, I have nothingmore to say."
The young man instantly lifted the Flower Queen in his arms. As he didso she opened her eyes, and Frank saw she was looking straight at hisface.
Then came a staggering surprise for the boy from the North. He saw thegirl's lips part, and he distinctly heard her faintly exclaim:
"Frank Merriwell!"
Frank fell back a step, then started forward.
"You--you know me?" he cried.
Quick as a flash, the youth with the dark face passed the girl to theman with the white mustache and imperial, and the latter bore herthrough the throng to a carriage.
Frank would have followed, but the dark-faced youth blocked the way,saying, harshly:
"Hold on! You did her a service. How much do I owe you?"
"Stand aside!" came sharply from Frank's lips. "She knows me--she spokemy name! I must find out who she is!"
"That you cannot do."
"Who will prevent it?"
"I will!"
Frank measured the other from head to heels with his eyes.
"Stand aside!"
"Now, don't go to putting on any airs with me, my smart youngster. Bysheer luck, you were able to save her from possible injury. Like allNortherners, you have your price for every service. How much do I oweyou?"
Frank's face was hot with anger.
"You say 'like all Northerners,' but it is well for the South that youare not a representative Southerner. You are an insolent cad and apuppy!"
"You have insulted me!"
"I simply returned what you gave."
"And it shall cost you dear!" hissed the youth with the dark face.
Quickly he leaned forward and struck Frank's cheek with his open hand.
Then something else happened.
Like a bolt, Frank's fist shot out and caught the other under the chin,hurling him backward into the arms of a man behind him, where he laygasping and dazed.
Frank would have rushed toward the carriage, but he saw it move swiftlyaway, carrying the mysterious Queen of Flowers, and, with deep regret,he realized he was too late.
The man with the bristling white mustache and imperial did not depart inthe carriage, but he again forced his way through the crowd, and foundhis companion slowly recovering from the stunning blow he had received.
"Mistah Raymon', sah, what does this mean?" he cried, in amazement.
"It means that I have been insulted and struck!" hissed the onequestioned, quivering with unutterable anger.
"Struck, sah!" cried the man, in unbounded amazement. "You were struck!Impossible, sah--impossible!"
"It is true!"
"Who struck you, sah?"
"This young coxcomb of a Northern cur!"
The man glared at Frank, who, with his hands on his hips, was quietlyawaiting developments, apparently not at all alarmed. He did not quailin the least before the fierce, fire-eating look given him by the manwith the bristling mustache and imperial.
"If this--ah!--young gentleman struck you, Mistah Raymon', sah, therecan be but one termination of the affaiah. He will have to meet you,sah, on the field, or humbly apologize at once."
"That's right!" blustered the young man, fiercely. "I'll have his life,or an instant apology!"
Frank smiled as if he were quite amused.
"As I happen to feel that I am the one to whom an apology is due, youwill have to be satisfied with taking my life," he said.
The youth with the dark face drew out a handsome card case, from whichhe extracted an engraved card, which he haughtily handed to Frank, whoaccepted it, and read aloud:
"'Mr. Rolf Raymond.' A very pretty name. Allow me; my card, Mr. Raymond.I am stopping at the St. Charles Hotel. You will be able to find mewithout difficulty."
"Rest assured that a friend of mine will call on you without delay, Mr.Merriwell," stiffly said Raymond, thrusting Frank's card into hispocket.
Professor Scotch had forced his way through the crowd in time to catchthe drift of this, and the full significance of it dawned upon him,filling him with amazement and horror.
"This will not do--it will never do!" he spluttered. "Dueling is a thingof the past; there is a law for it! I will not have it! Frank, youhot-headed young rascal, what do you mean by getting into such ascrape?"
"Keep cool, professor," said the boy, calmly. "If this young gentlemaninsists on forcing me into a duel, I cannot take water--I must give himsatisfaction."
"I tell you I won't have it!"
roared the little man, in his big, hoarsevoice, his face getting very red. "I am your guardian. You are a minor,and I forbid you to fight a duel."
"If Mistah Merriwell will apologize, it is possible that, consideringhis age, sah, Mistah Raymon' will not press this mattah," smoothly saidthe man with the bristling mustache.
"What has he to apologize for?" asked Scotch.
"He struck Mistah Raymon', sah."
"Did you do that, Frank?"
"Yes; but he struck me first."
"He did, eh?" roared the professor, getting very red in the face. "Well,I don't think you'll apologize, Frank, and you're not going to fight.You're a boy; let him take a man. If he wants to fight anybody, I'm justhis hairpin, and I'll agree to do him up with any kind of a weapon froma broad-ax to a bologna sausage!"