The Adventures of Hiram Holliday Read Online Free PDF

voice that I have heard crying against bullies and blackmailers.'
    He had moved close to her side and raised his hat to her, and they stood to one side, shaded by a tree, away from the nearest groups of people. And then he noted that she was not alone. An elderly woman stood near her holding a small boy by the hand. He could not have been more than seven or eight years old and was slim and fair. And that was all that he had time to note before the incredible began to happen.
    Five men broke from the shadows. The woman with the little boy put her hand to her mouth and cried: 'Herrje! Madame!' because the men were converging on her. Holliday heard one of the men say: 'Ja, ja ! Los ! SchnellJ and knew it was German. The girl had whirled with blinding speed and gathered the child to her and opened her mouth to scream, but already one of the men had slipped behind her and held her with his hand pressed over her mouth, while another gagged and pinioned the woman. Two men were dragging at the child when Hiram Holliday lunged viciously with the ferrule of his umbrella at the ear of the one nearest to him, and drove it through his ear drum. The man fell forward on his face and lay still. It was over so quickly that the others did not even know what had happened and when they turned to see, they found only a bespectacled, guileless-looking man fencing rather ridiculously with a furled umbrella. They closed in on him.
    Now, an umbrella is quite the silliest of all weapons except when in the hands of a competent fencer, then it becomes unpleasant and dangerous. The leader of the quartette suddenly found the steel tip menacing his eyes and made a grab for it with his hand, but it was not there, it eluded him and then was driven sharply against his mouth, smashing a tooth. The two women were free, but neither one of them screamed. They were watching as though fascinated. Something swished, and
    Holliday felt a ripping blow on the side of his cheek. Suddenly he knew with complete clarity with whom he had to deal. A headline he had written flashed through his mind: ' n azis and
    legionaires in yorkville clash - Belt-buckles v . Fists as Six are Injured.' He saw an arm drawn back for another blow, and lunged straight for the eyes, and felt the point go home into something soft.
    The man let out a roar of pain. People began to move towards them, and the men in the trench stopped their work and looked up. A voice said: "Ere, 'ere! Wot's all this ? Fetch a Bobby! Someone's 'urt!' The men fell back for a moment in indecision.
    'Come on,' panted Hiram Holliday. One hand held the girl's arm, the other grasped the shoulder of the woman, who
    in turn held the child's hand. 'No, noWalk! Walk slowly with me. Don't run!'
    They moved slowly away from the group and out into the flare-light, an innocent, middle-aged gentleman with an umbrella, a girl, a child, a nurse.
    The group behind them around the man on the turf was static. Holliday felt it with the back of his head. 'Now a little faster ...' he said. Under the urge of his hands they quickened their steps....' Steady ... a little faster now....' They were approaching the gate of the park. 'Now come on, with all you've got,' and they ran like rabbits.
    There were shouts behind them and the drumming of feet. Hiram flagged one of the tiny, high-bodied London cabs that drifted by and thrust them in, followed and slammed the door. 'Get going, son,' he snapped at the driver. He looked back to see three of the men rushing from the park, one of them holding his hand in front of his mouth. They hailed a taxi.
    'We're all right,' said Hiram. 'We'll find ourselves a cop ... a policeman.'
    'No.... Oh, no,' said the girl. 'Not a policeman. Please.... I... I am not supposed to be in England....' For the first time Hiram noticed that the girl spoke with a slight accent, one that he thought he recognized. 'Oh, oh,' he said, 'you are German?'
    The girl lifted her head. Holliday had never seen such a gesture before,