Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-03-02

The stroke was one to stun, but it never reached home. The young for eigner bent one side, not moving his feet, with a motion that would have spoken volumes to an athlete, and the mates fist banged against the bull wark. While he staggered from this, Armand, seizing a ropes end as he circled, cut him across the face with such slash that the blood ran from the gash.
 Now ensued strange combat. The mate, heavy and cuIhbrous, tried to reach the other with sledge hammer blows. The Frenchman, slight, wary circling, retreating, slipped hither and thither. Three times in as many sec onds that sibilant swish" sang, and red mark sprang out on the brutal face.
 At each swing of the fist a sort of groan went up from the huddled re- demptioners, and at each cut they sucked in their breath with delight. It was new, strange entertainment fer them--to have a brain sick passenger descend from his clean deck to cham pion the cause of scum.
 The Virginian, looking down, was quivering visibly. As the passenger evaded blow that would have crush ed his ribs he could not forbear shout: ''Well done, by the Lord! But ware the clinch! Ware the clinch, mon sieur!'f
 For the mate. though maddened out of himself, had shown a sudden gleam of purpose He was forcing the sec retary back into corner between bull wark and stsNchion, not striking, but his burly arms now stretched out wide ly. Even as Cary shouted the arms gripped Armand like a wise, and the stinging ropes end. useless now, fell to the deck. Over the upper rail the passengers leaned, watching. "A shamev' cried one '"That bloody brute will kill him out of hand!" "'Tis the clerk! Pshawg' said the quartermaster. "He sides with the rabble. Let the rabble care for him!' The woman who had been the unwit- ting cause of this struggle crouched back of the first sullenly intent rows, waiting, hugging her bundle. The oth- CTS watched, guessing well what the issue would be, most of them accepting it as they had accepted the unspeak- able fare, the cursings and revilings of the crew, with that stolid acceptance which, multiplied by centuries of hered- tty, had brought them at last to this same condition.
 The Virginian leaned down with vi- brant hopelessness. He looked to see the secretary, vised and crackled in those arms, drop limp and senseless. As he looked he saw Armand's face, very white, turn up to him.
 Then, like lightning, a wonderful thing happened. The young mans chin sank deep into the hollow of the others shoulder; his arms went up about the muscles of the bulky back; 1.-the legs like wire went suddenly curling and twisting about the stocky ones. A mo- ment of strained silence and glaze of shocked surprise on the mates slashed face, then
 Crack! The coil untw:sted; the mate relaxed, tottered and fell to the deck.
 There was at this time in France curious science known as ''La Savate" The Japanese have it under another name. It V first taught in the thiev- ing dens s and was to some ex- tent po'" by clever rogue who earned l-~ from the Bastille by teaching it to young officers of title. 1t was an art of leg fence, and by precise iy the same twist and wiring which q practiced swordsinan uses to disarm an RdyeraaEI, the blade in this case being