Mountain advocate., 1922-02-10

tempted to do some idiotic thing, and
have to suppress such impulses with
a mailed fist. It's all the outcome of
vanity. A man hates to admit that
he's a back number. He wants to
assure the plain people that, nOtwith-
standing his gray whiskers and string
halted legs, he's fOur-hOrse team
with dog under the wagon, when
II comes to athletic skill.
81 was in the livery barn the other
evening. when young Fretsinger be-
gan explaining that he had been TAX
ing boxing lessons from one Of the
old masters. He had learned all the
tricks of the game, and was just suf-
fering agOnies because there was no
body present who would stand up and
exchange scientific swats with him.
an my younger days, If l Go say it
myself, ] was a star performer in
the ordinary knock-dOwn-and-drag-out
form of combat, hut | never was worth
shucks at boxing Nobody knows that
better than / do. Why, then. did |
inform Fretsinger tfat | would he glad
to spar a few rounds with him? 1t
surely was vanity and nothing else.
/ had an idea that, while he might
have plenty of the fancy stuff on
hand. | might land one of my old-time
haymakers; in which case / felt sure
the town would soon he ringing with
the story of an old mans prOweSs.
$50 | took Off my long iimswingcr
coat and my vest. and stood up for
battle. If anybody tells you, my
friends, that FrctSingpr doesn't know
how to WELD his hands. you may re-
gard the story as Il rOorback. / never
saw fists So numerous aa on that occa-
sion. | couldn't see anything else for
a while, ana they landed on me in
many unexpected places. and | don't
remember a time when | was so en-
barraSSed
"Fretsinger explained afterward
that he merely tapped me gently be-
cause l was a venerable man, old
enough to be his grandfather. In that
case l never want to become involved
in an argument with him when he is
in earnest. l had a black eye for
week after this recital, and my nose
has never satisfied me since. Every
time came downtown, had to ex-
plain to a thousand people that | black
ened my eye while splitting kindling,
or that l dropped sad-iron on 1t.
There is nothing more Illuminating
than a black eye. and l made up my
mind that I'd try to realize my ad-
yanced age thereafter, and behave my
self like a grave and reverend man.
"But no sooner had my eye recOv-
cred than / was in trouble again.
saw some young men wrestling, and
paused to point out that they didn't
know the rudiments of the game.
assured them that in my younger days
| | was a holy terror, and didn't think
that my hand had lost its cunning.
II would afford me genuine happiness,
/ said, to show them how wrestling
was done in the palmy days of Null
| doom and Whistler.
$50 removed my coat and vest and
went into executive session with
husky young man who had no respect
for gray hairs. l am not sure about
what followed, but l think he must
have thrown me over his head. Any
how, made a great dent in the earth
with my person, and l was so sore for
two weeks that l had to take myself
around In a wheelbarrOw. OF course,
am determined to make no more bad
breaks of the kind, but haven't much
confidence in myself, and tomorrow
you may see me climbing a tree half
a mile high, to show some boys how
to rob birds nests"