12 Sports Aces, May 1943 — page 60: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

58 42 SPORTS ACES | oD Deere Dor Ore Per Per Hee Her ‘im, Jad! Take ’im for Big Mat Rourke!” Matty nodded shortly. Colonel Eisen said, “Fire at will, gentlemen!” T FELT strange going out there with ne bell, no crowd, no blazing ilights overhead. This was elemental, real. A hardness came into Matty Rourke. The main thing was that he had Alders before him. Battler Alders was no meatball. He’d fought a hundred ring battles and he knew the tricks of his trade. He met Mat- ty in the center, feinted his deft and whistled a right. The bare fist cracked against Matty’s cheek. Matty zipped hia own left. It smacked fiesh below {he Bat- tler’s ear. Matty bludgeoned a shert right and it connected solidly. Alders danced sidewise. Matty followed, pounded home short power-laden wallops. ders and it looked as if the fgeht wouldn’t last long. Then suddenly Batiler Alders launched a vicious counterattack. A loop- ing right streaked from nowhere, caught Matty on the side of the neck. A hard left hook snaked through his guard «and Matty’s head hammered back: “Dox’ im, lad, box *im! Take it easy!” Matty tried to follow Spike’s shouted advice, but Alderys followed his adywan- tage, erowded him. Alders was eally throwimg punches, his bare knuckles cracked and rattled blows on Matty’s face and hean. Blood dripped and ran down Matty’s cheek from a gash below his eye. And suddenly a powerhouse right explod- ed against his jaw. Matty Rourke crashed to the floor. Where was it he'd been im that thick fog before? Somebody should do seme- thime about this, a man just conkin’t etand in the bottomless stuff. A great black-haired figmre doomed threugh the clond and then was suddenly a tittle man with a crooked nose, yelling in a voive that was a thousand miles away: “Get up, lad, get up! By Judas, you gotta get up! Think of Big Mat!” Suddenly Matty’s senses cleared and ham.. He pushed himself erect. Battier Z Alders leaped in confidently to polish off dis man. He was too confident. Matty slipped inside the curving left Alders threw and his right shot upward. That uppercut had behind it all the bit- terness Matty felt from the treatment he and Big Mat Rourke had received. It exploded against Alders’ chin like a how- itzer shell. There was no mouthpiece to absorb any of the jar and Matty felt the shock of Alders’ teeth jamming together through his arm. A dazed glassiness filmed Alders’ eyes. Afterwards Tim McCarty and Spike Babb argued as to how many times Matty hit Aijders before he toppled. Tim main- tained he counted seven and thought he’d missed one, Spike said six. The trip- hammer bludgeons that we.e Matty’s fists pistoned so fast it was impossible to count the blows acgurately. — Battler Alders’ face was splattered ground meat, but it was doubtful if he felt any of the blows after that explosive uppercut. When he toppled to the floor, anyone could see he would be out for some time. Tim McCarty suddenly reached out & hand and jerked Squidge Pavelec for- ward, “Here’s another louse te work on, dec,” Tim said. .“This is the dirty lug that kept his mouth shut and let Mat Rourké go to prison!” “Youse is crazy! I don’t know—” “You’re the one, Pavelec. Nobody could ever understand why Bensen kept you hanging around, why he bought the con- tract of Spider Johnson and gave it to you. He had to, Paveltect You've got some- thing on Benson. That something is the knowledge you’ve got that Killer Birk diti mot die as a result of Mat Rourke hitting him!” “Not 1 tell you, youse is nuts!” “You'd better talk. Pavelec—or do you want te face a charge of murdering Kill- er Birk? Murder is never outlawed, Pave- fect” Z Squidge Pavelec threw a glance at B. J, Benson. Benson's face was putty gray. “A tissue of lies!” Benson screamed. “You fool, don’t talk! McCarty can"t—” Gomicbooks) (EO)