before taking action. Their hidden assailants probably thought that they
would run, but this thought was furthest from their minds.

Bob noted from which direction the missiles were coming, and acted
accordingly.

"Come on, fellows!" he yelled, and, followed by his friends, charged into
the long dry stalks that fringed the path.

There was a sudden cessation in the volley of stones and a startled
rustling deep in the rank growth of weeds.

In grim silence the radio boys charged straight in the direction of this
sound, and such was the speed of their attack that their hidden
adversaries had no chance to make their escape before the boys were upon
them. It was now almost dark, but there was still enough light for the
boys to recognize the ungainly form of Buck Looker, in company with his
cronies. These three had been re-inforced by a boy of about Buck's age,
and of very much the same ugly disposition, known as Bud Hayes, whose
family had lately moved to Clintonia.

"Clean them up, fellows!" yelled Bob. "We'll teach them not to throw
stones again in a hurry!"

Each of the radio boys singled out an adversary, and a brisk melee ensued.
Seeing that they could not get away, the Looker crowd put up the best
fight they could. But the radio boys were wrought up to a high pitch of
anger by the cowardly attack on them, and they fought with a quiet and
grim determination that quickly put their adversaries on the defensive.

At first the high grass and weeds hampered all the combatants, but these
were soon trampled down as they fought savagely back and forth. Suddenly,
by some unfortunate accident, Herb tripped over some object lying on the
ground, and fell full length. With a cry of triumph, Bud Hayes, without
giving Herb a chance to get to his feet again, threw himself down on top
of him and started pommeling him for all he was worth. Stunned by his
fall, Herb at first could offer little resistance, and it would have gone
hard with him had not Bob observed his fall. He himself had engaged Buck
in combat, but as he saw Herb go down, he dealt Buck a staggering blow on
the point of the jaw and leaped to Herb's assistance.

Hot rage filled his heart and the wild thrill of combat tingled along
every nerve. With the strength and ferocity of a panther he hurled himself
at Bud Hayes, landing with such force that Bud was hurled several feet
away from the prostrate Herb, gasping for breath.

Bob himself landed on the ground, but wa