Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 57: what you’re looking at

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

2 ie of. a i His forearms were thicker than his own biceps, and his chest was round as a keg. His doubled fists - looked the size of young cabbages, and — much harder. the Slapper. He had put on the mitts too many times with men twice his weight, and made them look foolish. Mere muscle meant nothing whatever to him. ~And_be- cause he had so often appeared in public, and before audiences so much more critical and outspoken than this one, he felt not the slightest sense of embarrassment. ~ Even Micah, angry as he was, and delighted at the chance to show off before his towns- men, was not so entirely at ease. The Slapper was glad that he wore sneak- ers instead of the narrow toed tan shoes he had first selected. He took careful note of the footing; it wasn’t too good, consisting. of wiry turf, somewhat uneven, flanked at a distance of about thirty yards by the pond and the grove. One might easily slip here, or turn an ankle. And although he had been through his share of gang fights in which bare fists—and worse—had been used, he would have been more at home with a nice set of gloves laced upon his hands; say five ouncers, with the horsehair neatly worked back from the knuckles. Micah took the offensive. It wouldn’t look good for the bigger, heavier man to settle back and wait for his weaker oppo- - hent to attack. So, with an awkward, rak- ing swoop, he threw out his right with all his force behind it, making no preliminary feint. The Slapper threw up his left very slightly, and turned his head; but there was such tremendous power in the blow that, al- though it was only glancing, he was swept clean off his feet and stretched on his side in the grass. A murmur rose from the crowd, and Micah snarled triumphantly and jumped in. In his code, when you got a -man down you did your best work. He. didn’t get up again until he said he’d had enough. — But the Slenpar wasn’t hurt. He jumped lightly to his feet, grinning. He had at ~ Jeast found out that the village champion packed a mean wallop. It would pay him : ze not to get careless and let one of those hay- _ makers gee theough his Sages hed be But all this did not disturb: job with his stout boots when the chance — glanced right and left to see ‘that the aes 3 == was giving him plenty of room. The battal- ion of small boys stared up into his face as Raphael’s cherubs gaze upon the Apos- _ tles. The Slapper filled his lungs and be- gan a series of rapid and baffling feints. 8 That is, they might have been baffling had Micah paid the slightest attention to them, = He didn’t. Having, as he conceived, | scored a clean knockdown with the utmost — ease, he craved for another, and tore vey in, wide open, both arms flailing. - Ni y "} \y ) 4 TA / ‘ ( se &, f ; et aR VED BN PANTY ehh Oa TB ENO RLA \ 4! / At / Wa ely 4 AA) Ly \ A ; a VA i. " i he be BAe al (i ae ay, ae ae Yip aD CAL PYLE VOR 4 y ie a BAe iy B a ph YF = —— —— 3 — ee ee and flickered out a long left that one merely to caress Micah’s nose; but a stream of red blood spurted from it; as if one had smashed a beet with a baseball bat. Te = looked worse than it hurt, but it hurt some. And the yells with which the sight of. gore = = was greeted hurt him much more. Wedlock — = = rose, as Nero’s Rome used to do, and as live men always do under similar circum- — See stances, Micah didn’t know just how it had a happened, but tore after his elusive oppo- == nent, determined to get-him to earth again. — And now, he was mad enough to finish the S came, — = It wasn’t easy to keep away from. him, = partly because the onlookers crowded too close, and more because of the footing. T he == Sars Slapper: knew that it would never do. — = stand and swap: punches, much less to fall = into a clinch. Nobody was holding a watch on them; sthers were evidently to be no eriods. Just a-fight toa ee Be was “by no means certain that — anybody would protest were Micah to- hit — a low, or give him the knee. And if they. a = = much good it would do him! — se = His problem then was to. take the offen- — sive, but at long range. He began dancing — = in and out, bewildering his man by a tantal- — = = izing play of arms, the seeming proffer of - — an apeciod jaw, a quick o= one ae { te’ be ee o yas Hh} MAN! ae SS in, jumping 3 doing the unexpect ae = and, as it seemed to Micah, the mmeaning- = less. And all the time, with straight = counters, hooks, “chops, jolts, he he was scor- ing on Micah’s -ugly mug. On his. eas z= too, in onder: to = his hands: sews comic : —— = = se