St. Tammany farmer., 1922-06-17

Sldulld. Lie SUlleSt was uOt OAlc u
grit, but Of that unflawed nerve which
is SO much the result Of perfect physi-
cal fitness. Clay's years Of clean life
on the desert counted heavily now. He
was master Of himself, though his
mouth was dry as whisper and there
were goose quills on his flesh.
But Durand, used to the fetid at
mosphere Of barrooms and to the soft
living Of the great city, found his
nerve beginning to crack under the
strain. What kind Of man was his
enemy to lie there In the black silence
and not once give sign Of where he
was, in spite Of crashing bullets? Was
it possible that he could have killed
the fellow at the first shot7 The COM
fort Of this thought whispered hope in
the ear of the ex-prize-fghter.
A chair crashed wildly Durand
fired again and yet again, his nerves
giving way to a panic that carried him
to swift action. He could not have
stood another moment without scream
ing.
There came the faint sound of a
hand cropping on the wall, and imme-
diately after flood Of light filled the
room.
Clay stood by the door, His revol-
yer covered the crouching gang leader.
His eyes were hard and pitiless:
"Try another shot," he advised iron
lcally.
Jerry did. A harmless click was all
the result he got He knew now that
the cow1nan had tempted him to waste
his last shots at a bit Of furniture
flung across the room.
You'll tell me what you did with
Kitty Mason" said Clay in his low,
persuasive voice, just as though there
had been no intermission Of flying bull
lets since he had mentioned the girl
before
"You can't kill me, when l haven't
a loaded gun" DHrand answered be-
tween dry lips.
The-other man nodded an admission
of that point 'That's an advantage
you've got Of me- You could kill me IL
l didn't have a gun, because you're
yellow wolf. But can't kill you.
That's right. But can beat h-ll out
Of you, and I'm sure gotn' to do it,
Talks cheap, when you've got
loaded six-gun In your fist" jeered
Jerry.
With a f1irt of his hand Clay tossed
the revolver to the top Of bookcase,
out of easy reach Of man standing
on the floor. He ripped open the but
tons Of his overcoat and slipped out Of
1t, then moved forward with elastic
step.
TITS you or me now, Jerry Du-
rand"
The prize-flghter gave a snort Of de-
risive triumph. "You d--n fool! I'll
eat you alive"
"Alebbeso. I reckon my system can
assimilate any whalin' you're liable to
hand me. Go to it."
Durand had the heavy shoulders and
swelling muscles that come from years
of training for the ring. Like most
pugilists out Of active service he had
taken on flesh. But the extra weight
was not fat, for Jerry kept always In
good condition. He held his leader
ship partly at least because OF his
physical prowess. No tough in New.
York would willingly have met him In
g ough-and-tumble fight.
The younger man was more slightly
built He was a Hermes rather than
a Hercules. His muscles flowed.
They did not bulge. But when he
moved it was with the litheness of g
panther. The long lines Of shoulder
and Aoin had the flow of tigerlsh grace.
The clear eyes in the brown face told
of soul indomitsble in a perfectly
synchronized body.
Durand lashed out with swinging
left. all the weight Of his body behind
the blow. Clay stepped back, shot a
hard straight right to the cheek and
ducked the counter. Jerry rushed him,
f1ailing at his foe blow on blow, intend
Ing to wear him out by sheer hard
hammering. He butted with his head
and knee, used every foul trick he had
learned in his rotten trade Of prize
lighting. Active as wild cat, the
Arizonan de-stepped, scored a left
on the eye, ducked again and fought
back the furious attack.
The gangman came out Of the rally
perplexed and disturbed. His
cheek was bleeding, one eye was In
distress, and he had hardly touched
bis agile opponent.
He rushed again. Nothing but his
temper, the lack OF self-control that
made him see red and had once put
him at the mercy Of first-cass ring
general with stamina and punch,
had kept Jerry out Of world cham
pionship. He had everything else
needed, but he was the victim Of his
own passion. 1t betrayed him now.
His fighting was that Of wild cave
man, blind, furious, damaging. He
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