George waited until he was near enough, then he
fired. The shot hit him in the side. But, though wounded, he would not
go back. With a yell like that of a mad bull he came leaping on, and
sprang right in among them.
Quakers are not allowed to use guns and pistols, so Phineas had been
standing back while George shot. Now he sprang forward. As Tom Loker
landed in the middle of them, he gave him a great push, saying, 'Friend,
thee isn't wanted here.'
Down fell Tom Loker, down, down the steep side of the rock. He crashed
and crackled among trees, bushes, logs, loose stones, till he lay
bruised and groaning far below. The fall might have killed him, had it
not been broken by his clothes catching on the branches of a large tree.
Cruel people are, very often, cowardly too. When the men saw their
leader first wounded, and then thrown down, they all ran away.
Mounting their horses, they rode off as fast as they could, leaving Tom
Loker lying on the ground wounded and groaning with pain.
As soon as Phineas and the others saw that the wicked men had really
ridden away, they climbed down, meaning to walk along the road till they
met Simeon.
They had just reached the bottom, when they saw him coming back with the
waggon and two other men.
'Now we are safe,' cried Phineas joyfully.
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