“We’ll go if you’ll say good-by in the right kind of a way, eh, Dudd?” said the person called Jerry Koswell.

“Yes, Minnie, but we won’t go until you do that,” answered the young man named Dudd Flockley.

“Wha—­what do you mean?” faltered the girl.  And now, looking through the sitting-room window and through a doorway leading to the kitchen, the Rover boys saw a pretty damsel of sixteen standing by a pantry door, facing two dudish young men of eighteen or twenty.  The young men wore checkered suits and sported heavy watch fobs and diamond rings and scarf-pins.

“Why, you’ll give us each a nice kiss, won’t you?” said Dudd Flockley with a smile that was meant to be alluring.

“Of course Minnie will give us a kiss,” said Jerry Koswell.  “Next Saturday I’m coming over to give you a carriage ride.”

“I don’t wish any carriage ride,” answered the girl coldly.  Her face had gone white at the mention of kisses.

“Well, let’s have the kisses anyway!” cried Dudd Flockley, and stepping forward, he caught the girl by one hand, while Jerry Koswell grasped her by the other.

“Oh, please let me go!” cried the girl.  “Please do!  Oh, Mr. Flockley!  Mr. Koswell, don’t—­don’t—­please!”

“Now be nice about it,” growled Dudd Flockley.

“It won’t hurt you a bit,” added Jerry Koswell.

“I want you to let me go!” cried the girl.

“I will as soon as—­” began Dudd Flockley, and then he gave a sudden roar of pain as he found himself caught by the ear.  Then a hand caught him by the arm and he was whirled around and sent into a corner with a crash.  At the same time Jerry Koswell was tackled and sent down in a heap in another corner.  The girl, thus suddenly released, stared at the newcomers in astonishment and then sank down on a chair, too much overcome to move or speak.

CHAPTER III

LIKE KNIGHTS OF OLD

The Rover boys had acted on the impulse of the moment.  They had seen that the girl wanted the two dudish young men to leave her alone, and stepping into the kitchen, Dick had tackled Dudd Flockley while Tom and Sam had given their attention to Jerry Koswell.

“You cowards!” cried Dick, confronting Flockley.  “Why can’t you leave a young lady alone when she tells you to?”

“They ought to be kicked out of the house,” added Tom.

“You—­you—­” spluttered Dudd Flockley.  He did not know what to say.  He gathered himself up hastily and Jerry Koswell followed.  “Who are you?” he demanded, facing Dick with clenched fists.

“Never mind who I am,” was the reply of the oldest Rover.  “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

“This is none of your affair,” came from Koswell.

“Well, we made it our affair,” answered Tom.  He turned to the girl “I hope we did right,” he added hastily.

“Why—­er—­yes, I think so,” faltered the girl.  She was still very white and trembling.  “But—­but I hope you didn’t hurt them.”