"It was a tight fit buying her, and now she's saving me dollars every day." Then he turned to a stooping man.

"You're crowding her a little." Alice Deringham noticed the resentment in the man's face, which was not a pleasant one, and that, in place of relaxing the pressure, he seemed to thrust a little more strenuously upon the plank he guided; but that was all she saw, for the next moment there was a crash and a loud whirring, and a cloud of woody dust was flung all over her.
Alton sprang forward through it, and a big leather belt suddenly stopped, but the girl could never clearly remember what happened next, for the dust still whirled about her.

There, however, appeared to be a brief altercation, and as Alton moved towards him the other man dropped his hand to his belt.

Guessing what the action meant, Alice Deringham shrank back with a little shiver, and her father appeared to grasp the man's shoulder.

Alton swayed suddenly sideways, and then hurled himself forward, while next moment two men fell violently against the wrecked machine.