Evening star., 1940-05-19
4 Short Story Cam bIftc on This Page

nom llit dressing room 10 tit lHlS, llt
d three of them Barney in his old bathrobe,
head down, ploughing along like snowshoer.
Splinter Juggling his bucket and sponge and
towels and bottles; Meyer in the rear, with
cigar fresh-lit, looking about eagerly, &c
knoWledgng greetings where none came.
Barney, you're gonna kill this guy.
Splinter kept saving You're gonna abso
lutely murder him But in his voice there
was no trace OF conviction. Barney duCked
through the ropes and stood in the glare of
the overhead lights, peering across the ring
at the man he was about to murder. He saw
that he was only kid - twenty, tWenty-One
maybe but a big kid. and powerfully built.
So that was the gag - Age VS.. Youth.
Barney had known all along that Lefferts
was putting him on at the Arena only as a
stunt and from the moment he entered the
dressing room he had felt out of place there.
, Elks smokers and Legion stadlums - that
had been his speed for years. Well, he'd take
his shellacking collect his dough, and lay up
at the hotel till he recovered. That was all
there was to it, and it was something of a
break at that. for a guy who hadn't had
match in eight months.
Actually Tom Letierts a Snowman as well
as a promoter, had planned this not as an
lnhuman exhibition of bear batting, but as a
sentimental intcrlude The week before, at
the horse show, Tom had seen the oldest
deivery-w wagon plug in the service. ambling
around the ring with a milk cart, draw more
applause than the fanciest steppers, and 1t had
reminded him of the fact that the crowd loves
an od-timcr. That was the reason Barney
Rourke who had reached his peak years
before the new Arena was even built. had been
called in from the sticks to fight this evening
before the biggest crowd he had ever faced
Barney wished Ellie could have been there
to see him, because after all he mdS in the
Arena even if his was the first bout on the
card 1t was Ellie he was thinking Of while
\, he gazcd up at the dazzling battery of lights
overhead and then beyond them into the dark
reaches of the balconies.
The announcer stood in the middle OF the
ring introducing his opponent: George Kid
MelniCk. the pride of some place or other.
nBarney tlexed his taped hands and looked the
Kid over. coolly figuring his chances You
could see the bout meant lot to the Kid;
he was nervous and itching to go. Well, it
meant lot to Barney too - or should have
but the itch had long since gone out of him.
A ght was just something to be got through
with now.
1t was Barneys turn AT one hundred
and siXty-tive pounds and now celebrating
his twentieth year in the ring Barney
Rourke," That burned him little, as much
as anything could burn him these days. At
thirty-seven they made him out an old man.
Why in any other profession he'd be in his
prime. He wondered if maybe Ellie too had
come to think Of him as old. and if that had
had anything to do with her walking out on
him. He had always had feeling that it
must be something more than just the booze.
Barney only half listened to the admon-
) ttions of the referee, and before he knew it
he was back in his corner. with his bathrobe
off, waiting for the bell He heard Meyers
anxious voice coming up from below: RE
member. your only chance is to get in there
and finish it quick And Splinter babblng.
N"It's gonna be slaughter. Barney boy. It's
gonna be the slaughter of the innoCents.'
The crowd was beginning to talk it up now
too. alf-heartedly. The last thing he heard
before the bell rang was Splinter's cry,
Honest | amt gonna have the heart to
look" And the last thing he thought was: