Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 153: what you’re looking at

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

~ A WALLOP Well, the Battler was doin’ his stuff in front of the hick hotel in the little Okla- homa town E£ told you about; I was stickin’ to him closer than a red flannel undershirt as it was the night of the fight and I didn’t want him to get mixed up with no frail. We was just about to go back into “the hotel when the neatest little dame I ever saw floated past. There was a young fellow with her, but we wasn’t givin’ him the eye or no part of it. The little lady was gettin’ our attention absolute and complete. And, as usual, the Battler couldn’t be satisfied by just givin’ her the o.o., but has to make one of his wise cracks. ‘Some chick for a biel town,” he says to me. _He didn’t intend for the fellow with the girl to hear him, but he did. He stops quick, turns around, and walks up to my fighter. “J héard what you said,” he tells him. “Well, what of it?” barks the Battler. “ Just this—you got to apologize and do it quick.” ” = I saw that trouble was ‘brewing. so I — in between them. “Listen, young fellow,” I said to the boy. “ My friend here don’t know no bet- ter and he didn’t mean nothin’; besides, he’s Battling Bennett who is goin’ to fight here to-night. Battling Bennett, see? So you better forget it.” “J don’t care if he’s Jack Dempsey says the hick. ‘“ He’s got to apologize.” The Battler was gettin’ het up fast. “What d’ya mean apologize?” he yells. “JT guess I can talk to the dame if I want to. On your way, feller, before I knock you kickin.” The fellow starts away all right, -but only takes a coupla steps. He stops sudden, -wheels around and before Bennett knew what it was all about he was settin’ on the sidewalk. This small town bozo had caught him right on the button with as quick and neat an uppercut as I ever saw and he’d gone down like a hunk of lead. When the Battler realized what had hap- pened he gets up and goes after the hick and, boy, what a battle! I’ve seen some of the classiest scraps that was ever pulled, but never nothin’ like this. They fought BY WIRE. to go ahead and do it. ail over the sidewalk and overflowed into the street; the thought of all that fightin’ bein’ done for nothin’ give me a terrible pain. They never had no ring, no seconds, no nothin’. They fought on until one of them dropped for keeps—and that one was Battlmg Bennett. The Battler got the beatin’ of his life and when it was all over he was a wreck. Of course, a big crowd had seen the fight and soon the news was all over town that Battling Bennett, who was to have gone on in the star bout that night, had been licked by one of the local boys. It ruimed my fighter as an attraction, but it didn’t make no difference anyhow. About the only way he could have gone into the ring that night would have been ona stretcher. I had figured on a big gate, but this street scrap knocked all my plans cuckoo. The girl’s fellow—Tom Kennedy was his name—said he was sorry he’d spilled the beans and what do you think he offered to do? To help me out, he said he’d go on that geht in Bennett’s place. I told him IT was right up against it and willin’ to take a ohanee on anything and I was so sore at this baby for ruinin’ my fighter that I was hopin’ somebody would knock him dead. Well, Kennedy went on that night and there was nothin’ to it. He knocked his man all over the ring for two rounds and in the third round he knocked him cold. For all I know, the poor bozo is out yet. I had seen enough of Kennedy’s fightin’ to realize he was a wiz and I made him a proposition right away and he accepted it quicker than that. He was up against it for money and the idea of knockin’ guys cold for a bunch of bucks locked good to I tagged him “ Kid” Kennedy and we went to it. I got a bunch of set-ups and second raters for him and he went through "em like a cyclone through Kansas. Then I picked some of the tough babies for the Kid, but it didn’t make no difference. ‘They all looked alike to Kennedy. I figured I had grabbed a live one at last and. I was settin’ pretty right on top of the world. And then I got the big chance— a match with “Sure Death” Dolan. 623. Eomichooks-co