me on the three top stairs. Hanks
now came along with the roll of cloth, twice his own size, upon his
shoulder--an awkward load to handle--and started to descend. He slipped
on the first step, and in trying to regain his footing tripped himself,
and tumbled, bumped, and rolled all the way to the bottom of the stairs.

The cloth kept along with him. At one time he was on the top of the
roll, and at another it seemed to have the better of him. At any rate
they stuck by each other, and landed well out on the floor side by
side.

Jack Hickey indulged in a characteristic shout. All the employees in the
room gathered around and laughed in a manner that must have been very
tantalizing to one in Hanks' plight.

Just then Fred came in and joined the crowd. The old man saw him, and
fire almost flashed from his eyes. His two front teeth, that so annoyed
our hero by hanging loose and waving back and forth, now seemed to shake
as if worked by an electric motor.

He picked himself up, white with rage, and parting company with his roll
of cloth, rushed into his corner beneath the stairs beside the flockers.

The first object that caught his eye was Carl. Hanks rushed at him like
a madman, and catching him around the throat, pushed him roughly against
a hard iron frame and demanded to know why he dared to disobey his
orders in telling what he had been forbidden to mention.

The little cripple cried out with fear and pain, injured as he was by
Hanks' revengeful act. Fred had now made his way to the flockers, and
the half stifled cry was the first intimation he had had of Carl's
presence. He rushed at once to his assistance, and grappled with the
boy's assailant.

A fierce struggle now ensued. Hanks' blood was up. He was almost like a
wild man, and his strength was nearly doubled. At first our young friend
was hardly a match for the maddened man. They rolled and tumbled, first
one seeming to gain the supremacy and then the other.

The old man struggled desperately to win the contest. He struck Fred a
telling blow on the nose that made the blood flow copiously and added
horror to the scene. But this did not weaken our hero's courage. It
rather strengthened his determination and purpose. The fire flashed from
his eyes; all the force of his well trained physique was at his command,
and with a powerful effort he hurled his antagonist to the floor and
fell upon him.

Still the struggle went on, but soon Hanks' strength began to fail