s on his feet again quick as
lightning, glancing about him to see how it fared with his friends. Joe
was forcing Carl Lutz back step by step, while Jimmy had already forced
Terry Mooney to take to his heels. But even as Bob noted this in one quick
glance, both Bud and Buck, who had recovered by this time, rushed at him
from different directions. But before Buck could get too close quarters
Herb, who was recovering from the effect of his fall, stretched out a
foot, and Buck sprawled headlong, landing with such force that the breath
was knocked from his body.

Lutz and Hayes, seeing their leader fall, decided that it was time for
them to get away, and simultaneously they took to their heels. By this
time it had grown so dark that it was impossible to follow them, so the
boys were left in undisputed possession of the field.

Buck Looker, deserted by his cowardly friends, staggered to his feet, all
the fight knocked out of him. He was entirely at the mercy of the radio
boys, but they were not the kind to take advantage of this fact, although,
undoubtedly, had their positions been reversed, Buck would have had no
such scruples.

"Well, you've got me," growled Buck. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing," said Bob, a note of contempt in his voice. "The less we see of
you, Buck, the better we're satisfied. And your gang's no better than you
are. Look at the way they ran off and left you to take care of yourself.
You're dirty and they're dirty. We'll let you off this time with the
licking you've had already, but if you ever try any more low-down tricks
you won't get off so easily."

Buck muttered something to himself which he did not dare to voice aloud,
and slunk off with the manner of a cur who has just received a beating
that he knows he deserves. The radio boys groped their way back to the
path, where they had left their bundles, and resumed their way home,
keeping a wary eye out for any signs of a renewal of the attack by their
enemies.

CHAPTER IX

LARRY REAPPEARS

"That was a regular battle," said Herb, as they walked along. "Bud Hayes
has some reputation as a scrapper, and he certainly was all that I could
handle, but if I hadn't tripped over that blamed can I could have taken
care of him all right. But I've got a lump on my head as big as a hen's
egg where I hit the ground."

"You'd have been out of luck if Bob hadn't helped you out the way he did,"
said Joe. "You certainly landed on him lik