Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-30
CHAPTER XIII.
Jean Morley


1t serving as reading room for men:
the rest of it was used as creche, where
young children were looked after at hours
when their mothers were too busy to care
for them. The other half of the building
served as an assembly room on occasions,
and here the exercises of the evening
We're already in progress when Wayne
arrived. At one end Of the room ring
had been fmprovised, and within the roped
Enclosure a string quartet was playing
waltz, to which the feet of considerable
portion of the audience kept time. The
place was packed, and Wayne stood until
the end OF the number sandwiched be-
TWEEN two laborers. who had paused on
their way home Their faces were still
griny; their dinner pals rubbed Wayne's
legs democratically. A prestidigitator
| followed the quartet with series of
| Straightforward tricks. He was a young
Italian and was warmly applauded by
representatives OF his race in the audi
ence. A young woman sang popular
ballad. the pastoral note of whose refrain,
I'm the woodland by the river, I await
my love. my own" was plaintively incon-
gruous in the place.
Wayne was aware of an undercurrent
OF excitement, especially among the men
and boys. They were on their good be-
| havior but the tameness of the program
had begun to cloy. recitation by girl
| in pale blue, who stood in painful embar-
rassment for several minutes while her
| memory leased her afar off with forgot
| ten rhymes, elected a few mutterings Of
disapproval. Some one on the back
benches cried. during long and SEEM
| ingly endless pause. "Where did you lose
| it, Minnie?' whereat she withdrew In
| fearful confusion, followed by sympa-
thetic applause. scuff1e in the rear
caused general disorder and drew atten-
| ton away from the platform The broth
err of the recitationist was. it seemed.
| trying to punch the head of the culprit
who had Knocked her. Wayne had SO far
| seen nothing of Paddock, but the minister
now rose near the scene of conflict and
with quiet word subdued the beIliger-
ents. A young man. in a nechtie OF vio-
| lent green, who appeared to he the mas
ter OF ceremonies, leaped to the stage
| and called for order. He announced that
| the literary and musical numbers We're
! concluded. eff the gents back there wot
| wants to fight will cam themselves. We'll
give EN- few points OF how it's done
| by real scrappers. The evenin's stunts
will close with five rounds between Jim
| BaIinski of Altoona and Mike the motor
man. You fellas that want to be noisy
| better get out now or be chased out
wild cheer. punctuated by cat-calls.
greeted the two boxers. as. clad in tights,
they stepped nimbly into the roped in
| closure and saiuted the admiring audi
ence. A howl of xiii the Irishman
from violent partisan was drowned in
groans and sfrieks of Put him out In
TOUR languages. Al tniS lnOIIleTt Iduuock
appeared, Invested of his coat and waist
coat, gave q hitch to his belt. amid
cheers. examined the gloves of the COM
| batants and admonished them as to the
rules. Wayne noted with interest that
Joe. his chauffeur. was timekeeper, with
dishpan and stick for gong. hush
fell upon the crowd as the men warily
began feeling of each other. The round
ended i'm lively sparring without apparent
advantage to either man. The 1rishman
1no~ ,7a6 f,ror1 nf n
neighbors member OF Paddock's own
class in boxing at the parish house and
sentiment seemed to favor him. The Sec
ond round was marked by clever foot
the Altoona visitor to the delight Of the
spectators. In the third and fourth
rounds the Irishman continued to play
with his antagonist. who doggedly sought
an opening for heavy blow. He landed
heavily with his right several times, but
the Irishman's nimbleness saved him
from damage. In mere cleverness the
local man was the better boxer. fact
which was clear enough to his adversary.
who held back and waited for an oppor-
tunity to break through the 1rishmanS
ready guard with telling blow. The
strategic moment came when, in the last
round, the Irishman jumped away after
raining half dozen blows on the enemys
head. and grinned his satisfaction amid
laughter and bowls of delight. In his
joy OF the situation he made a gesture
that indicated his complete confidence In
the fortune Of battle to his friends in the
crowd. and his insOlence was promptly
rewarded by a telling clip in the face
that brought him blinking to his knees.
He came to time, however, with rage
in his eyes. Several women shrieked at
the sight of his bood-snieared nose and
there was a slight commotion as a girl
near the door was led out to faint. xiii
i'm. Mike rOared dozen voices.
You're all right. Altoona yelled lone
supporter OF the visitor. They clinched,
but the Altoona man flung off the Irish
man with ease. KNOCK i'm out, Nike!
chorused the motorman's friends. The
Irishman tented elaborately, but his an
tagonist sullenly maintained his guard
and waited The time was short in
which TO achieve victory, but he had
saved himself for a supreme effort The
Irishman hit him a smart clip on the
chin that staggered him for moment.
and then the man from Altoona drew
back and gathered himself together He
swung his arm high. though it had
been hammer, and the 1rishtnan cow
cred under 1t. slipped as he sieestepped
and the Altoona man striking out Wild
~, landed in a heap with his knees in the
Irishman's face.
The male portion of the crowd charged
the stage with roar. Wayne was aware
that Joe, whose voice Lad occasionally
risen above the tunlult seemed now to be
trying to bring order out of the prevail
ing chaos The combatants quickly re-
tired: Paddock donned his coat and
begged all to remain for refreshments,
which were further announced in the
odor of coffee that stole up from the
basement. Many to whom the boxing
contest had been the beginning and end
of the entertainment were already crowd
ing into the street, and no effort was
made to detain them. Half the benches
were carried out under Joes direction by
two or three stalwart young fellows.
while the former light Of the diamond,
filled with the pride Of brief authority.
watched its effect upon Wayne. who was
do with himself Paddock strolled about
addressing a few words TO every one. The
color glowed warmly under the clergy
mans dark skin; his smile was less sad
| than usual 4 young man dropped the
plate Of ice cream he was passing to a.
| girl, and Paddock met the tragic situation
| by telling a story of q similar mishap OF
| his own.
He spoke to Wayne last of all and
| drew him into a group of half a dozen,
saying, Young friends, this is an old
schoolmate of mine; won't you make
room for us:" With paper napkins on
| their knees he and Wayne were soon
haunting each other with some Of their
old-time adventures. while the listeners
| beamed their delight at the intimate
quality of the colloquy. Wayne told sew
eral stories about Paddock that were
listened to eagerly by the little circle
The girls giggled; the young men laughed
| aloud. Paddock threw in a word here
and there to elicit some new tale
Wayne's success with his auditors stimu-
lated him; the circle widened. and he
| talked of some of his experiences in the