Sentence:  The Bat—they called him the Bat.nb.... He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he <WSD>played</WSD> a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute.