“See here, Minnie, are you going to stand for this?” growled Dudd Flockley.  “It ain’t fair!  We’re old friends, and—­”

“You had no right to touch me, Mr. Flockley,” answered the girl.  “I told you to let me go.  I—­I thought you were a—­a—­gentleman.”  And now the tears began to show in Minnie Sanderson’s eyes.

“I am a gentleman.”

“You didn’t act like one.”

“Oh, come, don’t get prudish, Minnie,” put in Jerry Koswell.  “We didn’t mean any harm.  We—­”

“I want you to leave this house!” said the girl, with a sudden show of spirit.  “You had no warrant to act as you did.  It—­it was—­was shameful!  Leave at once!” And she stamped her small foot on the floor.  Her anger was beginning to show itself and her face lost its whiteness and became crimson.

“We’ll leave when we please,” muttered Dudd Flockley.

“So we will,” added Jerry Koswell.

On the instant Dick looked at his brothers, and the three advanced on the two dudish-looking young men.

“You do as the young lady says,” said Dick in a cold, hard voice.  “I don’t know you, but you are not wanted here, and that is enough.  Go!” And he pointed to the door.

“See here—­” blustered Flockley.  But he got no further, for Dick suddenly wheeled him around and gave him a shove that sent him through the doorway and off the back porch.

“Now the other fellow,” said the oldest Rover, but before Tom and Sam could touch Jerry Koswell that individual ducked and ran after Flockley.  Then both young men stood at a safe distance.

“We’ll fix you for this!” roared Flockley.  “We don’t know who you are, but we’ll find out, and—­”

“Maybe you want a thrashing right now,” came from Tom impulsively.  “I’m in fighting trim, if you want to know it.”  And he stepped out of the house, with Sam at his heels.  Dick followed.  At this hostile movement Flockley and Koswell turned and walked hurriedly out of the garden and down the country road, a row of trees soon hiding them from view.

“They are as mad as hornets,” observed Sam.  “If they belong anywhere near Ashton we’ll have to look out for them.”

“Right you are,” answered Tom.  “But I am not particularly afraid.”

Having watched the two young men out of sight, the three Rover boys returned to the farmhouse.  Minnie Sanderson had now recovered somewhat and she blushed deeply as she faced them.

“Oh, wasn’t it awful,” she said.  “I—­I don’t know what you think of it.  They had no right to touch me.  I thought they were gentlemen.  They have called here several times, but they never acted that way before.”

“Then we came in the nick of time,” answered Dick.  “Will you allow me to introduce myself?” and he bowed.  “My name is Dick Rover and this is my brother Tom and this my brother Sam.  You are Miss Sanderson, I suppose.”

“Yes, Minnie Sanderson.”

“We are strangers here.  We were on the train, but there was a little accident and we were in a hurry to get to Ashton, so we got off and walked up this road, thinking we could hire somebody to drive us to Brill College.”