Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 64: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

~ a - “ ae —- — oa” ee Cae 4 ae = ~. - oe” ee ye ee, eee 690 did not wish to use revolvers, because of the danger of attracting the police; but they had several in the house, and each of them possessed a knife, some of them lead- en slungshots. Trouble was, they counted too much on their superior numbers. Bas- tien had two knives on him; but Bastien was quite out of the picture, his scalp dangling about his ears. The doorman had also been heavily armed; but Ugichi had at once crippled him. One of the others that the Jap had encountered also carried a knife, as we have seen, but failed to make the best use of it when the test came. The other men were more or less in dis- habille; the hour was early, and some of them were not even dressed. Of the rest, they had laid aside their knives, hot dream- ing that they would be called upon to fight, at least without plenty of time to prepare. Therefore, even when Bastien’s loss was replaced by the arrival of two others from the floor below, the odds were not so great as might appear. George faced four des- perate criminals, two of whom at least had records for homicide; but since they were below him, none could use their knowledge of /a savate, and none of them were as good practitioners as Langouste. Descending step by step, careful of his footing, George flailed away with crushing right hooks and stabbing lefts; and, foot by foot, gathering strength and fury as his hard knuckles crunched against flesh and bone, he beat them down one by one. Not that he escaped unscathed; here and there an unskillful but hearty wallop land- ed in his midriff, and one little gutter rat, who had slipped to the stairs, bit him painfully in the leg, through trousers and all. But in a very short time, as time goes by the clock, he had gained the floor be- low, leaving no one able to follow him up from the rear. The next flight was easier, yet in a way harder. By now the enemy was drawn two ways; several had gone downstairs to eliminate the crazy Oriental who was muss- ing up their reception room; and in George’s path stood but one man. But ‘he was a tremendously broad, thick-set fellow, a Norman, totally unlike his more undersized, wiry city comrades. He was perfectly com- The way to the outside world was now: «i — Se peel ol el Dae ~~ —_—— = a > © Pe a 4 = se ee ees Oe a el ee ee ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. posed, and had the intelligence not to put himself at a disadvantage by walking up- stairs against George, and so having to fight from underneath. Instead, he stepped back and waited for the prisoner to reach the landing. The instant George crossed the last step, the big man was on him in a flash. He was astonishingly quick for so heavy a person, one weighing about the same as George, though a head shorter. The blows he struck, while not those of a trained boxer, were punishing ones, the sort of rough- and-ready style of a seafaring man who has established himself in many a forecastle as bully. For two minutes the issue hung in doubt. Both men were dealing knockouts with each hand; it was merely a question of which one first landed clean. But skill plus brute strength will, usual- ly, beat either alone. There came a rally, toe to toe, when a wild swing left the big Norman’s jaw exposed for a fleeting in- stant; and George’s right hung one flush on the button, with every ounce of his hundred and eighty-five pounds behind it, with a lift from the heel to help out. A broken lower maxillary, and oblivion, were the portions of the sailorman. Three steps at a time George tore his unimpeded way, to burst into the little room where a fangle of Franco-Japanese profanity and _ assault-with-intent-to-kill prevailed. It was all so bewildering that it took the American a minute to distin- guish friend from foe. He beheld the face of his faithful Ugichi, and then, before he could move, it was re- placed by that of one of the remaining Apaches. Finally he got his bearings, edged in and yanked out one of the latter, putting him away with a smash flush on the nose; and at almost the same instant Ugichi did something exceedingly unpleas- ant and effective to the other. Just what it was, George could not see, it was done so quickly; but the fight was over! East met West, as the brown man and the white shook hands over the sprawled figures of their late hosts. Bruised lips part- ed in happy grins. Eyes already beginning to close flashed with the zest of battle won. ‘Ss z - ae ~~ €O = =" >= =, —_ ot is = a = = om - * ae” ge ee ¥.. << a ee 3 gt hoe Ss SS ae Fg —_ Ss — - ~ ~ a - “a ~* —_——— * ga ee gy Ne i te gg ee ce =