Hal was crestfallen, and he showed it plainly.  However, he still held his own weapons in his upraised hands, and he had no mind to release the weapons if there was any way in which he could avoid it.

“Put those guns on the table, and be quick about it,” ordered his enemy and slipped from the bed to the floor.

Hal advanced slowly toward the table, and laid down the revolver he held in his right hand.  The man in the bed took a step toward him.  It was the moment for which the lad had been waiting and he acted instantly.

Slowly his weapon came down, and then it suddenly flashed in the Apache’s face as the lad’s hand pressed the trigger.

A miss was impossible.  Hal had made up his mind that he would trifle with his opponent no longer.  He realized fully that his own life depended upon his getting the upper hand and that it was no time to be squeamish.

Accordingly, when the opportunity presented itself, he fired pointblank in his opponent’s face.  The latter threw up his hands, gave out a single loud scream of pain, and toppled backward to the floor in a heap.

Hal bent over him.  “Dead,” he said simply.  “Now to get out of this.”

He left the house and made his way with all speed toward the Hotel de Ville.  But he had not gone a block when he beheld, in a little store he was passing, a scene of confusion.  The lad stopped and peered in.  He made out Chester’s figure and, instantly realizing his danger, dashed forward.

He arrived just in time to catch an uplifted arm that would have crushed Chester’s head with a heavy wrench.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE DEATH OF DUVAL.

“What’s going on here?” cried Hal angrily, as he twisted sharply on the upraised arm.

The man who held the wrench writhed in pain beneath the lad’s strong fingers and he dropped the wrench and turned on Hal angrily.

“What business is it of yours?” he demanded.

“I’ve made it my business,” said Hal.  “He is a friend of mine.”

Unmindful of the threatening gestures of the others, he stooped and gently lifted Chester’s head.  The latter was not badly hurt, and he was soon upon his feet.

“Where did he go?” he cried excitedly.

“Where did who go?” asked Hal.

“Duval—­the man I was chasing.  He attempted to assassinate the President.”

A cry of surprise went up from those surrounding the two lads, and they pressed forward with eager questions.  No longer were they enemies of the two lads.  Word that an attempt had been made on the life of the President caused them to forget other troubles.

“He went that way,” said one of them, pointing.

“After him,” cried another, and the crowd dashed forward.  Others of the mob that had given chase arrived by this time and also continued the chase.

“There is no use running after him,” said Hal, as Chester also would have continued the pursuit.