Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-02

oOlddes black body, glistening under the arc
Nights.
The crowd yelled at the sound of the bell
and Joe walked slowly from his corner, staring
intently at Goldies chin. He crouched, his
head forward. most of the weight on his right
foot, his right hand held steadily at his hip
He rocked gently back and forward the
balls of his feet Goldie danced in, hitting him
twice with his left, once on the side of the head
the chin. Joe grinned He stood up
straight and grinned. He hadn't touched the
smooth brown body that slid by him. He set
tied back to the crouch, sticking his chin out
farther while he paved with his left hand
Then he laughed, and the crowd yelled, and
Coldie got sore, smashing him the eye
with his right hand Joe shook his head
Blood was in his eye He swung his right hand
for the first time but didn't really expect to
land get the old feeling, the emotional re-
lease. 1t would come later, everything working
up to that point, the inner excitement growing
but not yet strong enough. The brown body,
gistening with sweat, swung in close, and the
Soldier failed 1t with his left hand. Goldie hit
him six times in the body, twice just over the
solar plexus, and he felt sick. The crowd
laughed.
oh you Soldier"
Take aim, joe"
The Soldier half turned his back on Goldie
and stuck out his tongue at the crowd. Cat
calls didn't bother him; they warmed him up.
Goldie, slightly puzzled, stared at him suspi-
ciously. The bell ended the round Joe skipped
lightly to his corner.
He sat on the stool, his gloves on his knees
listening to Doc Barnes talking excitedly. He
stared at the arc-lights blinking his eyes, then
at the small yellow lights the crowd. He
wondered If Mollie were out there under the
small yellow lights and his mental picture of
her seemed indistinct. The thought of her was
utterly unimportant at the moment. He
couldn't be bothered thinking about her.
In the second round his weight held Goldie
on the ropes, but Goldie swung back on the re-
bound before the Soldier could adjust himself
at the new angle, and swung both hands to the
head, Earring, jolting, till the crowd yelled for
knockout. The thud and slap-thud Jared
the Soldier, his knees Sagged and dazed he
stood up straight, dropping his guard, and de-
splsing the crowd and Goldies smart work.
He swayed shook his head and crouched rock
ing gently on his feet, his big body tense as
Goldie, grinning, jabbed prettily Goldie jab-
bed. The Soldier got it on the chin but swung
his right hand from his hip. He felt the i'm
pact stiffening his arm, his heart pounding his
peak, then slowly subsiding as Goldie toppled
his head banging against the canvas his right
leg twitching, trembling.
The Soldier waved to the crowd He ran to
his corner. The crowd kept on roaring as he
tried to climb through the ropes and his seconds
pushed him back. The referee had counted six
when Goldie rolled over and got up on one
knee. The Soldier saw Goldie trying to balance
himself the one knee. Slightly bewildered
he watched him. then rushed across the ring
and pushed aside the referee, eager to hit
Goidie The timekeeper stopped counting The
referee held on to Joe trying to push him away.