约翰、亚瑟几人保护电线不被暴徒切断，为印制报纸争取时间，最后这场冲突终于结束，而造纸厂却遭遇麻烦……
In the front room Bob West and the detective were having a busy time.At the first rush they each fired a shot over the heads of the moba，merely to let them know the place was guarded.In the darkness it was impossible for the strikers to tell how many armed men confronted them，so they fell back a little，but formed a cordonb around the entire building.From the printing of？ce to the old mill was a distance of only a few hundred feet，and every able—bodiedc inhabitant of Millvilleexcept Peggy McNutt and Sara Cotting—who had discreetlydisappeared at the ？rst sign of danger—was assisting Joe Wegg to protect the electric cable he was trying to connect.The men from Royal were scattered all along the line，peering through the dim light to discover a vulnerable point of attack but deterred fromd interfering by the determination of the stalwart defenders.Mobs are invariably cowardly，and this one，composed of the lowest strata of mixed American and foreign laborers，was no exception to the general rule.However，when word was finally passed along from the mill that the dynamoe was running and supplying power to the printing press，a howl of rage went up and a sudden rush was made for the line，the attack concentrating at one point.
The defenders promptly grouped themselves in front of the threatened pole and Seth Davis，the blacksmith，wielding aheavy sledge hammera，did valiantb service，clearing a space around him with little dif？culty.Joe Wegg，Arthur Weldon，Cox the detective，Lon Taft，Nick Thome and even little Skim Clark were all in the melee，ghting desperately for time to enable Thursday Smith to work his press，using whatever cudgels they had been able to pick up to keep the assailantsc from the pole.Slowly，however，they were forced back by superior numbers until ？nally one of the mill hands clambered up the pole and cut the wire.
"Never mind，"said Arthur to Joe，as they retreated ？ghting toward the printing of？ce；"I think they've had time to run off the edition，provided Smith was ready with the forms."The mob was by this time in an ugly mood and the nearerJoe and Arthur edged toward the printing office the more numerous their enemies became.The Millville people were getting rather the worst of the scrimmage when out rushed Thursday Smith，swinging a stout iron bar he had taken from the press，and with this terrible weapon he struck out so vigorously that the diversion in their favor enabled the retreating villagers to gain the office，where Booth and Bob West ？red several shots that effectually checked the mob.
"Stand back，ye villains ！"cried a loud voice，as MajorDoyle marched calmly down the road from the mill；"how dare ye interfere with a gentleman？"One of the leaders confronted him menacinglya.The major slapped his face with the ？at of his hand and then kicked the fellow in the shins.
"Didn't I say to get out o'my way ？"he roared，and tothe surprise of everyone—even the major，perhaps—they fell hack and allowed him to walk leisurely into the printing of？ce.
