midnights
As the man came on , then , Pretty gave a terrific backward slash that caught the tramp 's uninjured shin . It was a beauteous shot , and sent the fellow to his hunkers , actually boohooing with agony . And now , with another fine long sweep , this time upward , Pretty sent a smashing blow at the third tramp 's upraised arm . The force of the stroke was alone strong enough to send the knife flying ; but , by the addition of a bit of good luck , Pretty caught the wretch on his crazy bone , and set him to such a caterwauling as cats sing of midnights on a back-yard fence . Leaving the battered Three Graces to their different dances , Pretty picked up the knife he had knocked from the hand of the third , and sauntered homeward , adjusting his somewhat ruffled collar and tie as he went , with magnificent self-possession . On his way he met the party of rescuers sent to him by Enid , who had managed to reach town in rapid time . Pretty calmly sent them back to pick up the three tramps he had left ; and these gentlemen were stowed away in the Lakerim jail , where they cracked rock and thought of their cracked bones till long after Pretty 's Christmas vacation was over .