Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-04-16
III

TWO PERSONS OF DISTINCT PUB
Lie IMPORTANCE, WITH A
MOMENTS IDLE SPECULATION
AS TO WHICH MIGHT PROVE
THE BETTER MAN, SHOULD
THEY MEET IN A BUSINESS
A match was in progress. Two big
men. stripped to short trunks. canvas
shoes, and padded brown gloves, with
red brown stains on them, were spar
ring and striking. Their finely trained
bodies glstened in that blazing white
! light She could hear their heavy
| breathing, and the soft pad-pad- pad
] OF their feet on the canvas-covered
platform-and now and then the thud
of cleanly placed blow.
A gong rang. The men turned
wearily to their corners; and numbers
of attendants in white clothing
buckets and bottles and stools and
sponges, and bath towels that they
waved frantically.
Miss Wilson looked about at the
audience. Many of the women. while
perhaps a bit overdressed, were beau
tful. and seemed not unlike the wom-
en- one saw at the Opera Comique.
The men, for the most part. appeared
| to be average, well-to-do Parisans,
with well-trimmed spade boards or
carefully groomed mustaches So far
they were quiet enough, decorous,
even. The loud talk and the occas-
ional shouting came from the or ovid
ed rows of men and boys in the gal
leries.
She reflected, as had so any
thousands of Anslo-Saxon observers
before her. on the impersonal quality
Of the Partisan and the Parisenne-
on their extraordinary openness to
facts of any sort, on their almost
complete freedom from prejudice,
moral or otherwise, on their good
humored attention to anything that
was for any reason interesting. That
was why they came TO this rough
spectacle; because 1t was interesting
to them. In her own mind she was
apologizing for being here at all.
They were doing nothing OF the sort.
She was dependent on the routine of
n her habitual environment. At this
very moment she was something at a
loss because she had, with such tra-
vail Of spirit, brought herself to cut
loose from that environment. Not so
these Parisians-they acted and felt
feel anywhere else And while she
listened with half an ear to Moran's
occasional quiet remarks and replied
to them, her inner mind was dwelling
on that keen bit Of observation he had
quoted-"It isn't that they're better
than us, or worse. It's only that their
safety valves set lower"
The gong rang. and the fight was
resumed. She watched it with more
assurance that at first. 1t was rough, ,
but she was coming to see that 1t Of
fered opportunities for quickness Of
thought. as well as of action, and
really unlimited openings for judg-
ment and courage-for character. Of
sort
This round ended the bout. Moran
explained that it was the last Of the
regimental championships, and added
that it was not particularly interest
ing. "Those boys are only the best
Of a lot of amateurs. Third raters."
He said this without a smile. and
without trace OF ccndecensiOn,
simply stated 1t as a fact.
She replied. gazing thoughtfully at
the fat announcer in evening clothes
who was reaching down through the
ropes for the slips Of paper on which
the decisions Of the several judges
were recorded--"It isn't so hard to
watch as feared. I'm not sure that
it isn't Just about the wholesomest
thing I've seen in Pars. They don't
seem to go in for things so direct and
honest as boxing. usually"
He flashed blunt glance at her