The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-11
WILLIAM HAMILTON OSBORNE

We've had about enough of this"
he said hercely. "By God! I'm going
to do you up. But I'm goin' to give
you fair fight. This time you'll have
all the show can give you. You can
rest up for couple of days, and get in
shape, and then it'll be your show to
come up on deck and meet Capt. jerks,
the champeen of the world, for the last
time. I'm givin' you fair warning that
this will be a sluggin' match, but fair
one. But, by George!" he added, if
In the meantime you try to get away,
God have mercy on you. won't. I'll
Kill you in your tracks. You fooled me
once, and you give me the slip once,
and now you don't get away from me.
You're my meat, and If don't kill you
In the fight, by George, you'll be my
slave for life. I'll have the upper hand
and don't you forget it. But it'll be a
fair fight. l won't kill no man in cold
blood, nor without a fair fight You
kin eat up and brace up If you want to,
and get strong. If you don't want to,
you needn't. But I'm givin' you a
chance that don't give to many men,"
For the next two days Smith was
kept under a constant watch. But he
had all he wanted to eat, and he was
allowed plenty of light and air and ex-
ercise.
Drink rum if you want to, don't
care" said the captain; "do anything
you want that'll get you in shape
Constitutional Smith did not drink
rum. Nor did he again attempt to
force the fact of his identity on Capt.
jerks. He kept his eye however, on
the captains face If there was ever
systematic and scientific murder in any
mans eye, 1t was in the eye of Capt.
jerks.
In the meantime Capt. jerks in his
usual approved manner, commenced to
get himself ripe and in shape for the
approaching battle. He ripsnorted
about here and there, cutting this man
and that, particularly Smith Smith
TOOK this buffeting silently, and never
attempted to resent it,
On the third day Capt. jerks was in
as prime condition as he had ever been.
The fight, as before, was to come off in
the early evening. There was no moon.
but as jerks preferred to fight Just
after dusk, lot Of extra lights were
placed upon the deck. Smith ate no
supper.
When it had become almost dark,
the mate and the two others escorted
Smith to the ring. There was Capt.
jerks, barred to the waist.
Come on, my buck!" he yelled with
hre In his eye; come on"
The lanterns cast a weird light upon
the scene. Smith looked at jerks
keenly.
You're sure" he said in a low, even
voice, that jerks thought trembled
just the least bit. you're sure, are
you, jerks. that you want to fight me?
Make up your mind. I tell you I'm
Constitutional Smith"
jerks leaped into the air and yelled
with laughter. The mate and most
of the crew joined in. What was
strange, Constitutional Smith joined in
with them.
I'm course I want to fight with you,
you jackanapes!" answered jerks;
what did you think this was-a Quaker
smeetin'?"
Let her go, then," said Smith. The
mate fired pistol shot into the air.
Now, on the occasion before this,
as in every fight, jerks had deter
mined to take his time and draw the
excitement out. He invariably had
been precipitate. 1t had been too soon
over. This time, however. he deter
mined to control himself until the
end. This time he would knock his
man out by slow degrees. He even
determined to give his man an appar-
ent advantage or two at the start. He
entered the ring and shook hands with
his opponent. Smith gripped his hand
with a grip that was nothing if not
weak and trembling. Smith stood in
the ring, an apparent tyro, before a
perfect master. Smith, too, was bluff
fling just bit.
Gee! he amt got ghost of a
show" muttered one or jerks crew,
remembering as he did the former
fight. The eyes Of the crowd were on
Capt. jerks rather than on Smith.
They did not take note Of a few of the
best points of Constitutional Smith.
Smith, with his arms half limp and
almost every point unguarded, stood
up and faced Capt. jerks, Of the Sarah
Margaret. Capt. jerks aimed a slight
but vicious blow at his opponents
head. 1t struck somewhere up in the
empty air, and Capt. jerks was leap
iner IlarfOrce ha I'd q ,.c,<,