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WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 25
THE A B YSMAL BRUTE
By JACK LONDON
PROLOGUE.
Few authors living today have
the force and directness, the \
rugged strength and vitality of
style of Jack London. This new
novel Is one of his best. It is a
story of the prise ring, a real
man's story, big and vigorous
end thrilling. Behind the tense
life, the excitement of the fight
itself, one can see in reading
it the crookedness, the devious
ways of the keen witted men who
stage the big fight and reap the
profits. More than this, one can
see into the soul of the Abys
mal Brute himself, one of the
strangest, most human and fas
cinating characters London has
ever drawn, a bruiser who is a
scholar as well, who is honest
and clean and innocent up to
the moment of his disillusion
ment —a veritable cross section
of a strange phase of American
life. _
(Continued from Yesterday.)
"T don't know. He was so careful
in biding its crookedness from me that
I think he feared it. I've told you
about the contract with Stubener. Dad
put in that clause about crookedness.
The first crooked thing my manager
did was to break the contract.”
“And yet you are going to tight this
Tom Cannnm. Is It worth while?"
He looked ut her quickly.
"Don't you want me to?”
“Dear lover, I want you to do what
ever you want.”
So she said and to herself, her
words still ringing In her ears, she
marveled that she. not least among the
stubbornly independent of the breed
of Sangster. should utter them.
Yet she knew they were true, and
she was glad.
“It will be fun,” he said.
“But I don’t understand all the glee
ful details.”
“I haven't worked them out yet.
You might help me. In the first place
I’m going to double cross Stubener and
the betting syndicate. It will be part
of the Joke. I am going to put Can
nam out in the first round. For the
first time I ifiiall be really angry when
1 fight. Poor Tom Cnnnum, who's as
crooked as the rest, will be the chief
sacrifice.
“You see, I intend to make a speech
In the ring. It’s unusual, but it will
be a success, for I am going to tell
the audience all the inside workings of
the game. It’s a good game, too, but
they’re running It on business princi
ples. and that’s what spoils it. But
there, I’m giving the speech to you in
stead of at the ring.”
”1 wish I could be there to hear.”
she said.
He looked at her and debated.
“I’d like to have you. But it’s sure
to be a rough time. There Is no tell
ing what may happen when I start my
program. But I’ll come straight to
you as soon as it’s over. And it will
be the last nppenrance of young Glen
don in the ring—in any ring.”
“But, dear, you’ve never made a
speech in your life,” she objected.
“You might fail.”
He shook his head positively.
“I’m Irish.” he announced, “and
what Irishman was there who couldn't
speak?”
He paused to laugh merrily.
“Stubener thinks I’m crazy. Snys a
man can’t train on matrimony. A lot
he knows about matrimony, or me, or
you, or anything except real estate
and fixed fights. But I’ll show him
that night, and poor Tom too. I really
feel sorry for Tom.”
"My dear abysmal brute is going to
behave most abysmally and brutally, l
fear,” she murmured.
He laughed.
"I’m going to make a noble attempt
at it. Positively my last appearance,
you know. And then It will be you,
YOU. But if you don’t want that last
nppenrance say the word.”
"Of course I want it. Big Man. L
want my Big Man for himself, and to
be himself be must be himself. If you
want this 1 want it for you and for
myself, too. Suppose I said I wanted
to go on the stage or to the south seus
or the north pole?”
He answered slowly, almost sol
emnly:
“Then I’d say go ahead. Because
you are you nnd must be yourself and
do whatever you want. I love you be
cause you are you."
“And we’re both a silly pair of lov
ers," she said when his embrace had
relaxed.
“Isn't it great!” be cried.
He stood up. measured the sun with
bis eye and extended his hand out
over the big woods that covered the
serried, purple ranges.
“We’ve got to sleep out there some
where. It’s thirty miles to the nearest
enmp.”
..•••••
Who of all the sports present will
pver forget the memorable night at the
Golden Gate arena when young Gleu-
Jon put Tom Cannam to sleep and an
even greater one than Tom Cannam.
kept the great audience on the ragged
edge of riot for an hour, caused the
subsequent graft Investigation of the
supervisors and the indictments of the
contractors and the building commis
sioners and pretty generally disrupted
the whole fight game?
It was a complete surprise.. Not
even Stubener had the slightest »p
prehension of what was coming. It
was true that bis mnn had been In
subordinate after the Nat Bowers af
fair and had run ofi* and got married.
Hut nil that was over.
Young Bat had done the expected
swallowed the Inevitable crookedness
of the ring and come hack Into It
again.
The Golden Gate arena was new,
This was its first fight, and It was the
biggest bnlldlng of the kind San l-’ran
cisco bad ever erected. It seated 20. •
000, and every sent was occupied.
Sports had traveled from all over the
world to be present, nail they had paid
ffiO for their ringside scats. The
cheapest seat iu the house had sold
for >5.
The old familiar roar of applause
went up when Billy Morgan, the vet
eran announcer, cllmU'd through the
ropes and bared his gray head.
As he opened Ills mouth to speak, a
heavy crash came from a near section
where several tiers es low seats had
collapsed. The crowd broke Into loud
laughter and shouted Jocular regrets
i nnd udvtre to the victims, none of
whom had bean hurt
The crash of the seats and the hlla
rtf us uproar caused the captain of po
lice In charge to look at one of his
lieutenants nnd lift Ids brows In token
that they would have their hands full
| nnd a lively night.
1 One by one. welcomed by uproarious
npplnnse. seven doughty old ring he
roes climbed through the ropes to be
Introduced. They were all ex-heavy
weight champions of the world.
Billy Morgan accompanied each pres
entation to the audience with an ap
propriate phrase One was balled as
"Honest John” and “Old Reliable;”
another wns ‘‘the squarest two fisted
fighter the ring ever saw.”
And of others: ’The hero of a hun
dred battles and never threw one and
never laid down:” "the gamest of the
old guard:” “the only one who ever
enrae back;” “the greatest warrior of
them all.” and "the hardest nut In the
! ring to crack.”
All this took time. A speech wns
insisted on from each of them, and
they mumbled and muttered In reply
with proud blushes and awkward
shamhlings.
The longest speech wns from •‘Old
Rellnble” and lasted nearly a minute
Then they had to be photographed
The ring filled up with celebrities, with
ehamplon wrestlers, fsmous condition
ers and veteran timekeepers snd ref
erees.
Lightweights and mlddlewelghts
swarmed. Everybody seemed to be
cballengtng everybody.
Nat Powers was there demanding a
return match from young Glendon.
and so were all the other shining
I lights whom Glendon had snuffed out.
Also they all challenged Jim Han
ford. who. In turn, hud to make his
| statement, which was to the effect
| that, he would accord the next tight
! to the winner of the one that was
about to take place. The audience tin
j mediately proceeded to name the win
ner, half of It wildly crying “Glen
! don” and the other half “Powera.”
| In the midst of the pandemonium an
' other tier of seats went down, and
( half a dozen rows were on between
cheated ticket holders and the atew
ardß who had been reaping a fat har
vest
The captain dispatched a message to
headquarters for additional police de
tails.
The crowd was feeling good. When
Cannam and Glendon made their ring
entrances the nrena resembled a na
tional political convention. Each was
I cheered for a solid five minutes.
The ring was now cleared. Glendon
; sat In his corner surrounded by bis
, seconds. As usual Stubener was at his
I back.
Cannam was Introduced first and
I after he had scraped and ducked his
head he was compelled to respond to
the cries for a speech, ne stammered
and halted, but mnnuged to grind out
several Ideas.
“I’m proud to he here tonight” he
aald. and found space to capture an
other thought while the applause was
thundering. ’Tve fought square. I’ve
fought square all my life. Nobody can
deny that And I’m going to do my
best tonight”
There were loud cries of "That's
right Tom!” “We know that!” “Good
boy, Tom!” “You’re the boy to fetch
the bacon home!”
CHAPTER XI.
THEN came Olendon’a turn.
From him likewise a speech
was demanded, though for
principals to give speeches wns
an unprecedented thing In the prize
ring. Billy Morgan held ap his hand
for silence, and In a clear, powerful
voice Glendon began.
“Everybody ban told you they were
proud to be here tonight,” be said. “I
am not”
The audience was startled, and he
paused long enough to let It sink borne.
“I am not proud of my company.
You wanted a speech. I’ll give you a
real one. This la to y last fight After
tonight I leave the ring for good.
Why? I have already told you. 1
don't like my company. The prize
ring is so crooked that no man engag
ed in it can hide behind a corkscrew
It is rotten to the core, from the little
professional clubs right up to this at
fair tonight"
The low rumble of astonishment that
had been rising at this point burst Into
a roar There were loud Into* and
hisses, and many began crying: “Go
on with the fight!” “We want the
fight!’’ “Why don’t yon fight V
Glendon, waiting, noted that the
principal disturbers near the ring were
promoters and managers and lighters
In vain did he strive to make himself
heard
The audience was divided, half cry
Ing out, "Fight!” and ttio other half
“Speech, speech!”
Ten minutes of hopeless madness
prevailed, Stubener, the referee, the
4
- . '* \
mm)
fw-grep £h
"Everybody has told you they were
proud to be here tonight."
owner of the arena, and the pro
moter of the fight, pleaded with Glen
don to go on with the fight
When he refused the referee de
clared that he would award the fight
in forfeit to Cannam If Glendon did
not tight
“You can't do it,” the latter retorted.
“I'll sue you In all the courts If you
try that on, and I'll not promise you
that you’ll survive this crowd If you
cheat It out of the tight. Besides. I'm
going to fight. But before Ido I'm go
ing to finish my speech.”
“But it’s against the rules,” protest
ed the referee.
"It’s nothing of the sort. There’s
not a word In the rules against ring
side speeches. F.very big fighter here
tonight has made a speech.”
“Only a few words,” shouted the pro
moter In Glendon’s ear. “But you're
giving a lecture.” |
‘There's nothing In the rules against
lectures,” Glendon answered. “And
now you fellows get out of the ring,
or I’ll throw you out”
The promoter, apoplectic and strug
gllng, was dropped over the ropes by
his coat collar.
He was a large man, hut so easily
had Glendon done It with one hand
that the audience went wild with de
light
The cries for a speech increased In
volume. Stubener and the owner beat
a wise retreat. Glendon held up his
hands to be heard, whereupon those
that shouted for the fight redoubled
their efforts.
Two or three tiers of seats crashed
down, and numbers who had thus lost
their places added to the turmoil by
niuklng a concerted rush to squeeze in
on the still Intact seats, while those
behind, blocked from sight of the ring,
yelled and raved for them to sit down.
Glendon walked to the ropes and
spoke to tile police cuptuln. He was
compelled to bend over and shout in
his ear.
“If I don't give this speech,” he said,
"this crowd will wreck the place. If
they break loose you can never hold
them. You know that Now, you've
got to help You keep the ring clear
and I’ll silence the crowd.”
He went hack to the center of the
ring nnd nguln held up bis bands.
"You want that speech?” he shouted
In a tremendous voice.
Hundreds near the ring heard him
and cried "Yes!"
“Then let every man who wants to
bear shut np the nolsemnker aext to
him!"
The advice wns taken, so that when
he repeated It his voice penetrated
farther. Again nnd again he shouted
it. und slowly, zone hy zone, the silence
pressed outward from the ring, accom
pnnh-d by a muffled undertone of
smneks and thuds nnd scuffles as the
obstreperous were subdued by their
nelghliors.
Almost had all confusion been smoth
ered when ii tier of scuts near the ring
went down. This was greeted with
fresh roars of laughter, which of It
self died away, so that a lone voice
far hack was heard distinctly as It
piped:
“Go on. Glendon! We’re with you!"
Glendon bud the Oil's Intuitive
knowledge of the psychology of the
crowd. He knew that what bad been
a vast disorderly mob five minutes be
fore wns n<tw- tightly In hand, and for
added effect he deliberately delayed.
(To Be Continued Tomorrow.)
THE AUGUSTA HERALD. AUGUSTA. GA.
CHEER UP
There are other Cold Waves coming:, attend
Speth’s Blue Pencil Sale and be prepared.
LOUIS P. SPETH
BRASS WARE
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