Evening star., 1926-11-07

ERNOON hal NE W ho ~ ALO "'1>
actlv what was the idea behind all
this?"
ITS like this. laddie Good old Bill.
son blew in to see me the other day.
II met him down in the East End,
and he asked for your address.
Yes: he told me" go,
"Whats going on2 Are you sllil
managing him.
Yes. That's what he wanted to see
me about. Apparently the contract
has another year to run and he can't
fix up anything without my OK. Ana
he's lust had an offer to fight bloke
called ALT Todd at the Universal
That's a step up from Wonder
land" said, for I had solid respect
for this mecca of the boxing world.
"How much is he getting this timer
1.-TWO hundred quid."
1.-TWO hundred quid. But that's a
lot for practically an unknown man:
"I'nknOwn man." said CkrldSe,
hurt IF you ask my opinion, !
should say the whole pugilistic world
is seething with excitement about old
| BilIson. Literally seething. Didn't he
slosh the middleweight champion?
"Yes: in a rough-andtumblei In a
back alley. And nobody saw him
| do it,"
"Well, these things get about
But 200 pounds
"A f1eabite, laddie. a. f1eabite. You
| can take it from me that we shall be
| asking a lot more than a measly cou-
ple of hundred for our services pretty
| SOON Thousands, thousands. Still.
| I'm not saying it won't he something
| to be going on with. Billson came to
me and said he had had this offer and
how about 1t? And when l realized
| that was in halves 1 jolly soon gave
| him my blessing and told him to go
as far as he liked. So you can imag-
inc how 1 felt when Flossie put her
foot down like this"
Like what? About 10 minutes ago,
when you started talking, you seemed
to be on the point of explaining about
F1ossie. How does she come to be
mixed up with the thing? What did
she do?"
only wanted to stop the whole bust
ness, laddie, that was ALL Just put
the kybosh on the entire works. Said
he mustn't fight
Mustn't fight?'
THAT was what she said. Said-if
| you'll believe me. laddie; l shant
| blame you if you don't-that she
didn't want his looks spoiled" Uk-
ridge gazed at me with lifted eyebrows
| while he let this evidence of feminine
perverseness sink in. His looks. old
man! You got the word correctly?
! She didn't want his looks spoiled.
argued with her by the hour. but no,
| she couldn't see it. Avoid women.
laddie: they have no intelligence"
well, I'll promise to avoid Flossie's s
mother, If thatll satisfy you. How
| does she come into the thing?"
Now, there's a woman in million.
nv boy. She saved the situation. She
came along at the eleventh hour and
snatched your old friend out of the
| soup. 1t seems she has a habit of
popping UP to London at intervals.
and Flossie, while she loves and re-
| spects her. finds that from 10 minutes
to a quarter of an hour Of the old dear
| gives her the pip to such an extent
that she's a nervous wreck for days"
| I felt my heart warm to the future
Mrs. BilIson. Despite Ukridge's slurs.
| a girl, it seemed to me, of the sound
est intelligence.
so, when Flossie told me with
| tears in her eyes, poor girl that
mother was due today / had the IN
| spiration of lifetime. Said / would
take her off her hands from start to
finish If she would agree to let Billson
! fight at the Universal. Well. 1t shows
you what family affection Is, laddie;
she jumped al 1t. / don't mind telling
| you she broke down completely and
kissed me on both cheeks. The rest,
| old horse, you know.
"Yes. The rest l do know"
| "Now, laddie-'
When does this fight come OFF,"
| "a week from tonight. I'm relying
| on YOU to he at my side"
| II wouldn't miss it for worlds. III
give you dinner before we go there,
| shall II"
Spoken like true friend" said
Ukridge, warmly. And on the follow
| ing night l will stand you the banquet
of your life. For, mark you, laddie,
shall be in funds. In funds. my boy"
Yes, if Billson wins. What does he
get If he leses?"
| Loses? He won't lose. How the
deuce can he lose? I'm surprised at
you talking in that silly way when
| you've seen him only few days ago.
Didn't he strike you as being pretty
| f1t when you saw him.
| YES. by Jove, he certainly did"
| "Well, then, Why, 1t looks to me
| as II the sea air had made him tough
er than ever. ALI Todd" said Ukridge.
soaring 30. an impressive burst OF
imagery, has about as much chance
as a one-armed blind man in a dark
| AOOhh II SiHS W q ppHhN VI
ed butter into a wildcats left ear with
! a red-hot needle"
I HAD never been inside the 'Univer
sal Sporting Club. and the atmos-
phere of the place when we arrived on
the night of the fight impressed me
good deal II was vastly different
from Wonderland. the East End home
Of pugilism. where 1 had witnessed
the Battler make his debut. There
certain laxness in the matter of cos
tune had been the prevailing note;
here white shirt fronts cleaned on
every side Wonderland, moreover.
had been noisy. Patrons of sport had
so far forgotten themselves as to whis-
tie through their fingers and shout
badinage at distant friends. At the
Universal one might have been in
church. After a few minutes / per-
ceived the familiar form Of Battling
Billson coming up the aisle.
There was no doubt about II. the
Battler did look good. Mr.. Todd, his
antagonist was no beauty-the almost
complete absence Of any division be-
tween his front hair and his eyebrows
would alone have prevented him being
that-but he lacked a cestain te-ne-
sais-quoi which the Battler possessed
From the first instant of his appear
| ance in the public eye our man was a
warm favorfte.
Bearing in mind how vitality Uk.
ridges fortunes were bound up in his