THE GAM E

BY JA C! L O N! O N
“ ” “
AUTH OR O F P EOP LE OF T H E AB YSS, TH E CALL
” “ ”
OF TH E W IL! , TH E SEA W OLF,
- ETC.

WI TH ILL US TRA TI ONS AN! ! E CORA TI ONS B Y

H E NR Y H UTT AN! 71 C L A WRE NCE
.

Nziu 320th
T HE MA CM IL L A N CO M P A NY
L O N! O N : MA CMI LLA N 8: c o .
,
b ro .

I
90 5
A 11 ig fi t:
r reserv ed
5 a;
3
o w,

3?
m
mmmm o
.

a! :
1 90 5 .
MA GA m U:

COP YRIGHT, 1 90 5 ,

B Y TH E MACMIL LAN COMP A NY .

Set u p l t typ d
an d e ec ro e . P ub li h
s ed Ju ne, 1 90 5 .

J S Cash i n g
. . Co
Norw ood Ma,
.
m
m m a ss
B erw i ck
, US A
. . .
S ith Co .
 CO NT E NTS
!

CH A P TER

CH A P TER

CH A P TER

CH A P TER

CH A P TER

CH A P TER
 IL L UST RAT IO NS

H ard all ov er ju st like that,

’
h e w ent on
Frantifpiere

‘
All I kn ow is th at y ou feel good in th e ring ’

So h e left h er to re m
i a n in th e sh op in a W aking

trance

H e left h er sea e td on a du sty , broken-bo tt m

d
o e

m
Th e perfection of l in e and stren gth and dev el op
en t

“
J oe rotec in g,
p t P on ta rushing
 THE GA M E

CH A P T E R I

M A NY patterns of carpet l ay ro ll e d out

before them on the fl o o r — two of B ru s
sels showed the be ginning of their quest ,

and its ending in that direction ; W hi l e a

score of in g ra in s lured their eyes and pro
longed the debate between desire and
p ocket-book The head of the depart
.

ment did them the honor of waiting u pon

IS
1 6 THE G AME
the m h i mself or d i d Joe the honor as ,

she we l l knew for she ha d noted the open

,

mouthed awe of the elevator

boy w h o brou g ht them u p .

Nor had she been b l in d to

the marked respect shown Joe
by the urchins and g roups
of y oun g fel l ows on corners ,

when she walked with him in

their own neighborhood down
at the west end of the town .

m
But the head of the de
a rt en t w a s ca ll ed awa y to
p
the telephone and in her
,

m ind the splendid pro m ise of

the carpets and the irk of the
pocket book were thrust aside
-

by a greater doubt and an x iety .

’
But I don t see what you fi n d to like
in it Joe she sai d softly the note of i nsist
, , ,
 THE G AME I7

ence in her word s b e

trayin g recent an d n u
satisfactory d iscussio n .

For a fl eetin g mo
ment a shadow dark
ened his boyish face ,

to be replaced by the
glow of tenderness .

H e w as on l y a boy ,

as she was on l y a girl

—two yo u n g things on
the threshold of l ife house ,

renting and buy in g carp ets to g ether .

“ ’
What s the g oo d of worr y in g ? he
“ ’
questione d . I t s the l ast go the ver y
,

”
last
.

H e sm i l e d at her but she saw o n his

,

lips the unconscious and all but breathed

si g h of renunciation and with the instin o
,

ti ve m onopo ly of wo m an for her m ate she ,

B
1 8 THE G AME
feared this thing she did not un d erstand
and which gripped his life so strongly .

Y ou know the go W ith O Neil cleared ’

”
’
the last payment o n mother s house he ,

“ ’
went o n A n d that s o ff my
.

mind Now this last with

.

Ponta wil l give me a hundred

dollars in ba n k — a n even
’
hundred that s the purse
,

—for you and m e to

start o n a nest egg
,
-
.

She disregarded the money

appeal But you l ike it this
.
,

”
this game you call it Why ?
‘ ’
.

H e l acked speech -ex pression H e ex .

pressed himself with his hands at his work , ,

and with his bo d y and the play of his m us

cles in the squared ring ; but to te l l with
his own lips the charm of the squared rin g
was beyond him Y et he essa y ed an d halt
.
,
 THE G AME 2 1

in gl y at fi rst to ex press what he felt and

,

never analyzed when playing the Game at

the suprem e summit of existence .

“
A ll I know Genevieve is that y ou fee l , ,

g oo d in the ring when you v e got the man ’

where you want him when he s had a punch ,

’

up both sleeves waiting for

y ou and you v e never ’

given him an opening

’
to land em when ,

you v e landed your

’

own little punch a n ’

’ ’
he s goin g r o ggy a h
’

b oldin the
’ ’
on an ,

’
referee s dragging him

m
of f so s you can go in
’

a n fi n ish a n al l th e
’ ’ ’

’
house is shouti n g a n
tea rin itself loose a n you
’ ’

’
know y ou r e the best man a n
’

,
22 TH E GAME
that you played ’
fair a n m ’

w o n out because y ou r e the

’

best man I tell you .

H e ceased b r o k en ly alarmed ,

by his own v o l ub il ity and by

Genevieve s l oo k of alarm
’
.

A s he talked she h a d watched

his face while fear dawned in her own .

A s he described the moment of moments

to her on his inwar d Vision were lined the
,

tottering man the lights ; the shouti n g

,

house and he swept out and away from

,

her on this tide of life that

was beyon d her compre
h e n sio n menacing irre
, ,

sis tibl e, making her love

pitiful and weak The Joe .

she knew receded faded , ,

became lost The fresh boy

.

ish face w a s gone the tenderness

,
 THE G AME 2 3

of the eyes the sweetness of the m outh

,

with its curves and pi ctured corners I t .

was a man s face she saw a face of stee l

’

, ,

tense and immobi l e ; a mouth of steel the ,

lips like the j aws of a trap ; eyes of steel ,

d ilated i ntent and the l ight in them and

, ,

the glitter were the light and glitter of

steel The face of a man and she had
.
,

known on ly his boy face This face she .

did not know at all .

A nd yet Whi l e it frightene d her she

, ,

w as vaguely stirred with pride in hi m .

m
H is mascu l inity the m ascul i nity of the
,

fi gh ting ale ma d e i ts inevitable appea l

,

to her a female m ou l d e d by a l l her hered

, ,

ity to seek out the stron g man for mate and ,

to l ean against the wa l l of his stren g th .

She did not u nderstand th i s force of his

being that rose mightier than h er l ove and
laid its co m p u l sion u pon hi m ; and yet ,
24 THE G AME
’
in her woman s heart she was aware of th e
sweet pang which told her that for h er sake ,

’
for Love s own sake he had surrendered to
,

her abandoned all

,

that portion of his

life and with this one
,

last fi gh t w ou l d never
fi gh t again .

M rs Silverstein
.

’
doesn t like prize
fi gh ting she said
, .

’
She s down on it ,

and she knows some

”
thi n g too
, .

H e smiled in du l
gently concealing a
,

hurt not altogether n ew at her persistent

, ,

inappreciation of this side of his nature an d

life i n which he took the greatest pride I t .

was to him power and achievement earned ,

 T HE G AME 2 5

b y his own cfi o rt and hard work ; and i n

the moment when he had o ffered himself and
al l that he was to Genevieve it was this , ,

and this alone that he w a s

,

p r ou d l y conscious of lay
ing at her feet I t.

was the merit of

work performed ,

a guerdon of man
hood fi n er and
greater than any
other man cou l d
o ffe r a n d i t
,

had been to him

his j u stifi ca tio n and
right to p ossess her . had not
understood it then as she did not u nder
,

stand it now and h e might well have w o n

,

dered what else she fo u n d in him to make

him worth y.
2 6 THE G AME
M rs Silverstein is
!

a d ub and a softy , ,

m
and a knocker he ,

said good h u o red l y -

.

“ ’
What s she know
about such things ,

anyway ? I tell you it is

”
g o o d and healthy too , , ,

this last as an a fter

“
thought Look at me . .

I tell you I have to live

clean to be in condition
like this I live c l eaner than she
.

does or her old man or anybody you

, ,

know — baths rub downs exercise regular

,
-
, ,

’
hours g oo d fo o d and no makin a pig of
,

myself no drinking no smoking nothing

, , ,

that ll hurt me Why I live c l eaner than

’
.
,

y ou Genevieve
,

“
H onest I do he hastene d to ad d at
, ,
 TH E G AME 2 7

“ ’
si ght of her shocked face I don t mean ,

m
water a n soap but look there
’
H is hand
,
.

closed reverently but fi r l y on her arm .

“
Soft you r e all soft
,
’

all over Not like mine

. .

”
H ere feel this
, .

H e pressed the ends

of her fi n gers into his
hard arm muscles until -

she winced from the

hurt.

“
H ard all over j ust ,

like that he went o n , .

“
Now that s what I call ’

m
clean . E very bit of
flesh a n blood a n
’
us
’

cle is clean right down

to the bones — and they re clean too ’

, .

soap and water on l y on the skin ,

clean all the w a y in I tel l y ou it .

2 8 TH E G AME
clean I t knows it s clean itsel f Wh en
.
’
.

I wake up in the morning a n go to work

’

every drop of blood and bit of meat is

shouting right out that it is clean Oh I
.
,

tell you
H e paused with swift awkwardness again ,

confounded by his u nwonted fl o w of speech .

Never in his life had he been stirred to

such utterance and never in his l ife had
,

there been cause to be so stirred For it

.

was the Game that had been questioned ,

its verity and worth the Game itself the

, ,

biggest thing in the world — o r what had

been the biggest thing in the world until
that chance afternoon and that chance pu r
chase in Silverstein s candy store W hen
’

Genevieve loomed suddenly colossal in his

life overshadowing all other things H e
, ,
.

was beginning to see though vaguely the

, ,

sharp co n flict between woman and career ,

 T HE G AME

between a man s work in the world an d

’

woman s need of the man But he w a s not

’
.

capable of generalization H e saw on l y the

.

antagonism be tween the concrete flesh and

,
-

b l oo d Genevieve and the great abstract liv

, ,
3 0 THE G AME
in g Game E ach resented the other each
.
,

claimed him ; he was torn with the strife ,

and yet drifted helpless on the currents of

their contention .

H is words had drawn Genevieve s gaze ’

to his face and she had pleasured in the

,

clear skin the clear eyes the cheek soft and

, ,

smooth as a girl s She saw the force of

’
.

his argument and disliked it accordingly .

She revolted instinctively against this Game

which drew him away from her robbed her ,

of part of him I t was a rival she did not

.

understand Nor cou l d she understand its

.

seduc tions H ad it been a woman rival

.
,
 THE G A ME 3 I

another girl knowledge and l ight and sight

,

would have been hers A s it was she .

,

grappled in the dark with an intangible

adversary about whi ch she knew nothing .

What truth she felt in his speech m ade the

Game but the more formidable .

A sudden conception of her weakness

came to her She felt pity for herself and
.
,

sorrow. She wanted him al l of him , ,

her woman s need would not be sa tisfi ed

’

w ith less ; and he eluded her slipped away ,

here and there from the embrace W ith

W hich she tried to clasp him Tears swam .

into her eyes and her lips trembled turn

, ,

ing defeat into Victory routing the al l ,

potent Game W ith the strength of her

weakness .

“ ”
Don t Genevieve don t
’

,
the boy,
’

pleaded all contrition though he was

, ,

confused and dazed To his masculine

.
3 2 THE G AM E
mind there was n othing re l evant about her
break down ; yet all else was forgotten at
-

sight of her tears .

She smiled forgiveness through her wet

eyes and though he knew of nothing for
,

which to be forgiven he melted utterly , .

H is hand went out impulsively to hers ,

but she avoided the clasp by a sort of

bo dil y stifi e n in g and chill the whi l e the
'

eyes smiled still more gloriously .

“
H ere comes M r Clausen she said .
, ,

at the same time by some transforming

,

alchemy of woman presenting to the new

,

comer eyes that showed no hint of moist

ness
Think I was never comin g back Joe ? ,

queried the head of the department a ,

pink and white faced man whose austere

- - -
,

side whiskers were belied by genial little

-

eyes .
 T HE G AME 33

Now let me see hum yes w e w a s , ,

”
discu ssing in grains he continued briskly
, .

That tasty little pattern there catches you r

eye don t it now eh ? Y es yes I know
,
’

, , ,

all about it I set up housekeeping when

.

I w a s getting fourteen a week But noth .

ing s too g oo d for the little nest eh ? O f

’

course I know and it s on l y seven cents

,
’

m ore and the dearest is the cheapest I

, ,

say Tell you what I ll do Joe

.
’ ”
— this
, ,

w i th a burst of philanthropic impulsiveness

34 THE G AME

and a co n fi d en tia l
lowering of voice ,

“
s eein s it s you and I W ouldn t do it for
’ ’ ’

’
anybody else I ll reduce it ,

”
fi v e cents O nly . here ,

his voice became impress

iv el y solemn on l y you
,

mustn t ever tell how much

’

”
you really did pay .

“
Sewed lined and l aid
, ,

’
of course that s included ,

he said after Joe and Gene

,

v ieve had conferred to

gether and announced their
decision .

“
A nd the little n est ,

“
eh ? he queried When .

do you spread y ou r wings and fl y away ?

To morrow ! So soon ? Beautiful ! Beau
-

”
tiful '
H e rol l ed his eyes ecstaticall y for a
 THE G AME 35

moment then beamed upon th em with

,

a fatherly air .

Joe had replied sturdily enough and ,

Genevieve had blushed prettily ; but both

felt that it w a s not exactly proper Not .

alone because of the privacy and holiness

of the subj ect but because of what might
,

have been p ru d e r y in the middle class but ,

which in them was the modesty and reti

cence foun d in individuals of the working
class when they strive after clean living
and morality .

M r Clausen accompanied them to the

.

elevator all smiles patronage and b en efi

, , ,

cence while the clerks turned their heads

,

to follow J oe s retreating fi gu re
’
.

“
A n d to night -
Joe ? M r Clausen
, .

asked anxiously as they waited at the

,

“
shaft
. H ow do you feel ? Think y o u ll ’

do him ?
3 6 T HE G AME

Sure Joe ans w ered

,
Never felt .

”
better in m y life .

“
Y ou feel all right eh ? Goo d ! Goo d ! ,

Yo u see I was j ust a — w o n de rin you ’

know ha l ha l — goin to get mar ried and

,
’

the rest thought you might be unstrung ,

m
eh a trifl e ? nerves j ust a bit o ff y o u
, ,

kno w ! now how gettin married is y

.
’

sel f But you re all right eh ? O f course

.
’

you are No use asking y ou that H a l

. .

ha l Well g o o d luck m y boy ! I kno w

, ,

you ll w in Never had the least doubt

’
.
,

of course of course ,
.

“
A n d go o d —
by M iss Pritchard ,
he ,

said to Genevieve gallantly handing her ,

“
into the elevator H ope you call often
. .

Will be charmed — charmed — I assure

you .

“
E verybody calls you she sai d
reproachfully as the car dropped downward
,
.
 T HE G AME 37
’
Wh y don t they ca ll you
‘
M r F l eming ? That s no
.
’ ’

m ore than proper .

But he was staring m oodi l y

at the elevator boy a n d did
not seem to hear .

“ ’
What s the matter Joe ? ,

m
she asked with a tenderness
,

the power of wh i ch to thri ll h i she

knew fu ll well .

“ “
Oh nothin g he sai d
, I w as onl y
, .

”
thinkin g and wishing .

“
Wishin g ?— w h a t P ”
H er Voice was
se d uctio n itself and her eyes would have
,

melte d stronger than h e thou g h they ,

fai l ed i n cal l ing his up to them .

Th en d eliberately his eyes lifted to

, ,

“
hers. I was wishin g you could see m e
”
fi gh t j ust o nce .

She m a d e a g esture of dis gust an d ,

3 8 T HE G AME

his face fe l l I t came to her sharp l y that

.

the rival had thrust betw een and was

bea r in g hi m away .

“
I d l ike to
’
I she said hastily
, ,

'

with an cfi o rt striving after that sympathy

,

which weakens the strongest men and draws

’
their heads to women s breasts .

”
Will you ?
A gain his eyes lifte d an d
looked into hers H e .

m eant it — she knew

that I t seemed a cha l
.

lenge to the greatness of

her love .

I t would be the proudest mo m ent

of m y life he said simply
, .

I t may have been the apprehensiveness

of love th e wish to meet his need for her
,

sympathy and the desire to see the Game

,

face to face for wis d om s sake and it ma y ’

,
 THE G AME 39

ha v e been the
clarion call of
adventu re ringing
through the nar
row co n fi n es of
uneventful exist
ence ; for a great
daring t h r i l l e d
through her and ,

she said j ust as ,

”
simply I will , .

“
I didn t think ’

’
you would or,
I wouldn t have asked ,

he confessed as the y walked

,

out to the sidewalk .

“
But can t it be done ?
’

she asked anxiously before ,

her resolution could cool .

Oh I can fi x that ; but I

,

’
didn t think you would .
40 T HE G AME
’
I didn t think you would he repeated
, ,

still amazed as he helped her upon the

,

electric car and felt in his pocket for the

fare .
C H A PT E R I I
 C H A PT E R I I

G E NE V I E V E and J oe were workin g —

clas s
aristocrats I n an environment made up
.

largel y of sordi d ness an d wretchedness they

had kept themse l ves unsul l ie d and whole
some Theirs was a self respect a regard
.
-
,

for the n i ceti es and clean things of life ,

which ha d held the m aloof fr o m their kind .

Friends di d not come to the m easily ; nor

had either ever possessed a really intimate
friend a heart—
, co m panion with who m to
45
46 T HE G AME

chum and have things in com m on The .

social instinct w a s strong in them yet they ,

had remained lonely because they could not

satisfy that instinct and at that same time
satisfy their desire for cleanness an d de
cen c
y .

Ifever a girl of the working class had

led the sheltered life it was Genevieve I n
, .

the midst of roughness and brutality she ,

had shunned all that was rough and brutal .

She saw but what she chose to see and she ,

chose always to see the best avoiding ,

coarseness an d uncouthness W ithout e ffort ,

as a m atter of instinct To begin with she

.
,

had been peculiarly unexposed A n only

.

child with a n invalid mother upon whom

,

she attended she had not j oined i n the

,

street games and frolics of th e children of

m
the neighborhood H er father a mild
.
,

te t iered narrow chested an aemic little

,
-
,
 THE G AME 47

c l erk domestic because

,

of his inherent d isa bil

ity to mix with men ,

had done his fu ll sh are

to ward gi vi n g th e
home an atmosphere of l
sweetness an d tenderness .

A n orphan at twe l ve ,

m
Ge n evieve h ad go n e
strai g ht fr o m her father s u
’

funera l to live with the

Silversteins in their r oo m s
above the candy store ;
and here she l tere d by
,

kindly aliens she

,

earned her keep and

clothes by waiting on
the shop Being Gen
.

tile sh e was especially

,

necessary to the Silversteins ,

 THE G AME
who wou ld not r un the business them
selves when the da y of their Sabbath came
aroun d
.

A nd here i n the uneventful little shop

, ,

si x maturing years ha d slipped by H er

,

acquaintances were few She ha d elected to

.

have no girl chum for th e reason that no

satisfactory gir l had appeare d N or did she
.
 THE G AME 49

choose to walk w ith the y ou n g fe ll ows of

m
the neighborhood as was the custom of girl s
,

“
fr o their fi fteen th year . That stu ck -u p
”
doll face
-
, was the w a y the girls of the
n ei g hborhood describe d her ; an d though
she earne d thei r en m it y by her beaut y an d
aloofness she none the l ess com m an d e d
,

“ ”
their respect . Peac h es and cream she
,

w a s calle d by the yo un g men — thou g h

s oftl y an d a m ongst themse l ves for the y

,

were afrai d of arousin g the i re of the other

girls whi l e they stoo d in awe of Genevieve
, ,

i n a dim l y religious way as a somethin g

,

m y sterious l y beaut i fu l and unapproachab l e .

For she w as in d eed beautifu l Spri n g

.

i n g fr o m a l ong l i n e of A merican d escent,

!
50 THE G AME
she was one of those wonderful working
class blooms which occasionally appear ,

defying all precedent of forebears and

environment apparently without cause or
,

explanati on She was a beauty in color

.
,

the blood spraying her white skin so

deliciously as to earn for her the apt
“
description , peaches and cream She .

w a s a beauty in the regularity of her

features ; and if for no other reason she
, ,

was a beauty in the mere delicacy of the

lines on which she was moulded ! uiet .
,

low—voiced stately and dign ifi ed she some

, , ,

how had the knack of dress and but ,

b efi tted her beauty and dignity with any

thing she put o n Withal she w as sheerly
.
,

feminine tender and soft and clinging

, ,

with the smouldering passion of the mate

and the motherliness of the woman But .

this side of her nature had lain d ormant

 TH E G AME 5 I

through the years waiting for the m ate to

,

appear .

Then Joe came into Silverstein s shop ’

m
one hot Saturday afternoon to cool himself
with ice— crea soda She had not.

noticed his entrance being bu sy ,

with one other customer an u r ,

chin of si x or seven who gravely

analyzed his desires before the
show case wherein truly gen
-

e rou s and marvellous candy

creations reposed under a card

“
board announcement Five ,

”
for Five Cents .

She had heard I ce cream

,
-

soda please and had herself

, ,

“ ”
aske d What fl avor ? with
,

out seeing his face For that matter it ,

was not a custom of hers to notice youn g

m en There w a s something about the m
.
52 THE G AME

m
she did not understand .The way they
looked at her ade her uncomfortable she ,

knew not why ; while there w a s an uncouth

ness and roughness ab out them that did
not please her A s yet her imagination
.
,

h a d been untouched by m an The youn g

.

fellows she had seen had held no lure for

her ha d been without meaning to her I n
, .

short had she been asked to give one reason

,

for the existence of men on the earth she ,

would have been nonplussed for a reply .

A s she emptied the m easure of ice crea m

-

into the glass her casual glance rested on

,

’
Joe s face and she experienced on the
,

instant a pleasant feeling of satisfaction .

The next instant his eyes were up o n her

face her eyes had dropped and she was
, ,

turning away toward the soda fountain .

m
But at the fountain fi llin g the glass she
, ,

w as i pelle d to look at him again

 THE G AME 53

but for no more than

an instant for this,

time she foun d his

eyes already up o n
her waiting to meet
,

hers while on his

,

face was a frank

ness of interest that
caused her quickly to look away .

That such pleasin g ness would

reside for her in any man aston
“
ish ed her What a pretty b o y
.
,
she
thought to herself in nocently and in s tin c
,

tiv e l y trying to ward o f

f the power to hold

and draw her that lay behind the mere

“ ”
prettiness . Besides he isn t pretty she
,
’

thought as she placed the glass before

,

him received the silver dime in payment

, ,

and for the third time looked into his

eyes . H er vocabular y w a s limited and ,
54 T HE GA ME

she knew little of the worth of words ;

’
but the strong masculinity of his boy s face
told her that the term was inappropriate .

“
H e must be hand
some then was her
, ,

next thought as ,

again she dropped

her eyes before
h is .But all
good - looking men
were called handsome and ,

that term too displeased

, ,

her But w h a teyer it was

.
,

he was g oo d to see and she ,

w a s irritably aware of a desire

to look at him again and again .

A s for Joe he had never seen anything

,

like this girl across the counter While .

he w a s wiser in natural philosophy than

sh e and could have given immediately the
,
 THE G AME 55

reason for woman s existence on the earth

’

nevertheless woman had no part in his

cosmos H is imagination was as untouched
.

by w oman as the girl s was by man But’

.

his imagination was touched now and the

'
,

woman w a s Ge n evieve H e ha d never .

drea m ed a gir l cou l d be so bea u tifi l l an d ,

he could not keep his eyes fr o m her face .

Y et ever y time he l ooked at her and her ,

eyes met his he felt painful embarrassment

, ,

and would have looked away had not her

eyes d ropped so qu ickl y .

But when at last she slowly lifted her

, ,

eyes and held their gaze steadil y it was his ,

own eyes that dropped his own cheek that ,

mantled red She w a s much less embar

.

m
ra ss ed than h e while she betrayed her em
,

b a rrass en t not at all She was aware of a

.

fl u tter within such as she had n ev er k n o w n

'

before but in no w ay di d it disturb her out

,
56 T HE G AME

ward serenity Joe on the contrary was o h

.
, ,

v io u s l awkward and delightfully miserable

y .

Neither knew love and all that either w as

,

aware of w a s an overwhelming desire to look

at the other Both had been troubled and
.
 THE G AME 59

rouse d and they were drawing together with

,

the sharpness and imperativeness of uniting

elements H e toyed with his spoon and
.
,

fl u sh ed his embarrassment over his soda ,

but lingered o n ; and she spoke softly ,

dropped her eyes and wove her witchery ,

about him .

But he cou l d not linger forever over a

glas s of ice cream soda while he did not
-
,

dare ask for a second glass 8 0 he left her .

to remain in the shop in a waking trance ,

and went away himself down the street like a

somnambulist Genevieve dreamed through
.

the afternoon and knew that she w a s in

l ove Not so with Joe H e knew onl y
. .

that he wanted to look at her again to ,

see her face H is thoughts did not get

.

beyond this and besides it was scarcely a

, ,

thought bein g more a dim and inarticulate

,

desire .
60 THE G AME
The urge of this desire he could not
escape Day after day it worried him and
.
,

t e candy shop and the

girl behind the counter
continually obtruded
themselves H e fought
.

ofl
’
the desire He .

w a s afraid and ashamed

to go back to th e
candy shop H e solace d
.

“
his fear with I ain t a
,
’

la d i e s
’
man No t once nor twice
”
.
, ,

but scores of times he muttered the

,

thought to himself but it did no g oo d

, .

A nd by the m iddle of the week in the ,

evening after work he came into the shop

, , .

H e tried to come in carelessly and casu

ally but his whole carriage advertised the
,

strong e ffort of will that compelled his legs

to carry his reluctant bo d y thither A l so.
,
 THE G AME 6:

he was shy and awkwarder than ever

, .

Genevieve on the contrary w a s serener

, ,

than ever though flu tterin g most alarm

,

in gl y within H e was incapable of speech

.
,

mumbled his order looked anxiously at ,

the clo ck despatched his i ce cream soda in

,
-

tremendous haste and w a s gone , .

She w a s ready to weep with vexation .

Such meagre reward for fou r days waiti ng ’

and assuming al l the time that she loved !

H e was a nice boy and all that she knew , ,

but he needn t have been in so disgraceful

’

a hurry . But Joe had not reached the

corner before he wanted to be back with her
again H e j ust wanted to look at her H e
. .

had no thought that it was love Love ? .

That w a s when youn g fellows and girls

walked out together A s for him .

A nd then his desire took sharper s h ape a nd ,

he discovered that that w as the very thin g

62 T HE GAM E
he wanted her to do H e w anted to see
.

her to look at her and well could he do all

, ,

this if she but walked out with him Then .

that w a s w h y the youn g

fellows and girls walked
out together he mused
, ,

as the week end drew -

near .H e h a d re
motely considered this
walking out to be a
mere fo r m or o bserv
ance preliminary
t o m atri m o n y .

No w h e saw the
deeper wisdo m in
it wanted it
,
himself and con
,

cluded therefrom that he was i n love Both .

were now of the same mind and there ,

could be but the one ending ; and it was

the mi l d nine day s wonder of Genevieve s
’ ’
 T HE G AME 63

neighborhood when she and Joe walke d

out together .

Both were blessed with an avari ce of

speech and because of i t their courtship
,

w a s a long one A s he expressed himself

.

i n acti on she expressed herself in repose

,

and control and by the love—

,
light in her
eyes — though this latter she would have
suppressed in all maiden modesty had she
been conscious of th e speech her heart
“
printed so plainly there Dear . and
”
darling were too terribly intimate for
them to achieve quickly ; and unlike most ,

mating couples they did not overwork the

,

love words
- For a long time they were
.

content to walk together in the evenings ,

or to sit side by side on a bench in the

park neither uttering a word for an hour
,

’
at a time merely gazing into each other s
,

eyes too faintly luminous in the starshine

,
64 THE G AME
to be a cause for self— consciousness and
embarrassme n t .

H e was as chivalrous and delicate in his

attention as any knight to his lady When .

they walked along the street he was care ,

fu l to be on the outside somewhere he ,

had h eard that this was the proper thing

to do — and when a crossing to th e o p
'

'

o site side of the street put him on the

p
inside he swiftly side—stepped behind her
,

to gain the outside again H e carried her .

parcels for her and once when rai n threat

, ,

ened her u mbrella H e had never heard

,
.

of the custom of sending fl o w ers to one s ’

lady— love so he sent Genevieve fruit in

,

stead There was utility i n fruit I t was

. .

good to eat Flowers never entered his

.

mind until one day he noticed a pale

, , ,

rose in her hair I t drew his gaze again

.

and again I t was lz ar hair therefore the

.
,
 THE G AME 4 65

presence of the fl o w er interested him A gain .

,

it interested him because sh e had chosen to

put it there For these reasons he was led
.

to observe the rose more closely H e dis .

covered that the cHe ct in itself w a s beauti

fu l and it fascinate d him H is ingenuou s
, .

delight in it w a s a delight to her and a ,

new and mutual l oV e thrill w a s theirs

-

because of a fl ow er Straightwa y he be
.

came a lover of fl ow ers A lso he became

.
,

an inventor in gallantry H e sent h er a

.

bunch of Violets The idea w a s his own

. .

H e had never heard of a man sending

fl o w ers to a woman .F l owers were used
for decorative purposes also for funerals
,
.

H e sent Genevieve fl o w ers nearly every

day and s o far as he was concerned the
,

idea was ori ginal as positi ve an inven tion

,

as ever arose in the mind of man .

H e was tremulous in his devotion to her

E
66 THE G AME
— as tremulous as in h er recepti on
w a s sh e

of him She was all that w a s pure and

.

good a holy of holies not lightly to be

,

profaned even by what might possibly be

the too ardent reverence of a devotee She .

w a s a being wholly di f ferent fr o m any he

had e v er known She w a s not as other

.

girls I t never entered his head that she

.

was of the same clay as his own sisters ,

’
or anybody s sister She was more than
.

mere girl than mere woman She was

, .

well she was Genevieve a being of a class

, ,

by herself nothing less than a miracle of

,

creation .

A nd for her in turn there w a s in him

, ,

but little less of illusion H er j udgment

.

of him in minor things might be critical

( while his judgment of her was sheer wor
ship and had in it nothing critical at all ! ;
,

but in her j udgment of him as a whole

 T HE G AME 67

she forgot the sum of the parts and knew ,

him only as a creatu re of wonder who ,

gave meaning to life and for whom she

,

could die as willingly as she could live .

She often beguiled her waking dreams of

him with fancied situations w h erein dying
, ,

for him she at last adequately expressed

,

the love she felt for him and which living

, , ,

she knew she could never fu ll y express .

Their love was all fi re and dew The .

physical scarcely entered into it for such ,

seemed profanation The ultimate physical

.

facts of their relation were something which

they never considered Y et the immediate
.

physica l fa cts they knew the immediate

,

yearnings and raptures of the flesh — the

touch of fi nger tips on hand or arm the ,

mo m entary pressure of a hand clasp the rare

-
,

lip caress of a kiss the tingling thrill of her

-
,

hair upon his che ck of her hand lightly

,
68 THE G A ME
thrusting back the locks fr o m above his
eyes A ll this they knew but also and
.
, ,

they knew not w h y there seemed a hint

,

of sin about t h ese caresses and sweet bodi l y

contacts .

There were times when she felt impelled

to throw her arms around him in a very
abandonment of love but always some ,

sanctity restrained h er A t such m oments

.

she was distinctly and unpleasantly aware

of some unguessed sin that lurked w ithin
her I t was wrong, undoubtedly wrong
.
,

that she should wish to caress her lover in

so unbecoming a fashion N o self respect .
-

ing girl could dream of doing such a thing .

I t was unwomanly Besides if she had

.
,

done it what would he have thought of it ?

,

A nd while she contemplated so horrible a

catastrophe she seemed to shrivel and wilt
,

in a furnace of secret shame .

 THE GAME 69

Nor did Joe escape the prick of curious

desires chiefest among which perhaps was
, , ,

the desire to hurt Genevieve When after .

,

long and tortuous degrees he had achieved ,

the bliss of putting his arm around her

waist he felt spasmodic impulses to make
,

the embrace crushing till she should cry out

,

with the hurt I t was not his nature to

.

wish to hurt an y living thing E ven in .

the ring to hurt was never the intention

,

of any blow he stru ck I n such case h e .

played the Game and the goal of the Game

,

w as to down an anta g onist and keep that

antagonist down for a space of ten seconds .

So he never stru ck merely to hurt ; the

hurt was incidental to the end and the end ,

was quite another matter A nd yet here .

,

with this girl he loved came the desire to

,

hurt Why w hen with thumb and fore

.
,

fi nger he had ringe d her wrist he should ,

70 THE G AME
desire to contract that ring till it crushed ,

was beyond him H e could not u nder .

stan d and felt that he was discovering

,

depths of brutality in his nature of which

he had never dreamed .

Once on parting he threw his arms

, ,

around her and swiftly drew her against

‘

him H er gasping cry of surprise and pain

.

brought him to his senses and left him there

very much e mbarrassed and still trembling
with a vague and nameless delight A nd .

she too w a s trembling I n the hurt itself

, , .
,

which w as the essen ce of the Vigorous em

brace she had foun d delight ; and again she
,

knew sin though she knew not its nature

,

nor w h y it should be sin .

Came the day very earl y in their walk

,

ing out when Silverstein chanced upon

,

Joe in his store and stared at him With

saucer—eyes Came likewise the scene
.
,
 THE G AME 7 1

after Joe had d eparted when the materna l

,

feelings of M rs Silverstein foun d vent in

.

a diatribe against al l prize

fi gh ters and against Joe
Fleming in particular .

V ainl y had Silverstei n

striven to stay his
’
spouse s wrath There.

w a s need for her

wrath A ll the mater
.

nal feelings were hers but ,

none of the m aternal rights .

Genevieve was aware only of the dia

tribe ; she knew a flood of abuse w a s
pouring fr o m the lips of the Jewess but ,

she was too stunned to hear the details of

m
the abuse Joe her Joe was Joe Fleming
.
, ,

the prize—fi gh ter I t was abhorrent i pos

.
,

sible too grotesque to be believable H er

,
.

clear eyed girl cheeked Joe might be any

-
,
-
72 THE G AME
thing but a prize fi gh ter She had never
-
.

seen one but he in no wa y resembled her

,

conception of what a prize fi gh ter m ust be -

—the human brute with ti ger eyes an d a

streak for a forehead O f course she had
.

heard of Joe Fleming —w h o i n West

O akland had not ? but that there should
be anything more than a coincidence of
na m es had never crossed her m ind .

She came out of her daze to hear M rs .

’
“
Silverstein s hysterical sneer keepin ,
’

company Vit a bruiser N e x t Silverstein

.
,

“ ”
and his wife fell to di ffering on noted
“
and notorious as applicable to her
lover .

“
But he iss a g oo d boy Si l verstein ,

“
w a s contending . H e make der m oney ,

’
an he safe der money .

Y o u tell me dat ! ”
M rs Sil v erstein .

“
screa m ed . V at y ou know ? Y o u know
 THE G AME 73

too m uch Y o u spend g oo d m oney on

.

der prize fi gh ters H ow y ou k now P Tel l

-
.

m e dat ! H ow y ou know i ‘

“
I know v a t I know ,

Silverstein held on sturdily

— a thin g Gene
vieve had never
b e fo r e s e e n
him do when
his w ife w a s in
the tantrums .

H is fader die ,

he go to work
in H ansen s ’

sai l - loft H é
.

haf si x bru dd ers a n sisters youn ger as he

’

iss H e iss der lidd l e fader H e vork hard

. .
,

all der time H e buy der pread a n der

.
’

’
meat a n pay der rent O n Satu rday night
, .

he brin g home ten dol l ar D en H ansen

“

.
74
. THE G AME
gif him twelve dollar — Vat he do ?
H e iss der liddle fader , h e bring it
home to der mudder . H e vork all der
time he get twenty
, dollar vat he

do ? H e bring it home Der liddle b r u d

.

’
ders a h sisters go to school vear g oo d
,

’
clothes haf better pread a n m eat ; der
,

m udder lif fat dere iss j oy in der eye a n

, ,
’

she i ss p r o ud for her goo d bo y Joe .

 T HE G AME 75

But he haf der peau tifu l body — ach ,

Gott der peau tifu l bo d y l — stronger as der

,

c x k Vicker as der tiger—

,
- cat der head cooler ,

as der ice box der eyes v a t see eferytings

-
, ,

k -Vick just like d at

, H e put on der gloves
.

Vit der boys at H ansen s loft he put on ’

der gloves Vit der boys at der v a reh ou se .

H e go before der club ; he kno ck out der

Spider k -Vick one punch j ust l ike dat
, , , ,

der fi rst time Der purse iss fi v e dollar

.

Vat he do ? H e bring it home to der

mudder .

“
H e go m any times before der clubs ;
he get m any purses ten dollar fi fty dollar , ,

one hun d red dollar V at he do ? Tell

.

me dat ! ! uit der j ob at H ansen s ? H af ’

der g oo d time Vit der boys ? No no ; he ,

iss der g oo d boy H e vork efery day

. .

H e fi gh t at night before der clubs He .

sa
y ,
V at for I pay der rent Silverstein ? ,
76 THE G A ME
to me Si l verste i n he say dat Nefer mind
, , .

v a t I say but he buy der g oo d house for

,

der mudder A ll der time he vork at H an

.

sen s and fi gh t before der c l ubs to pay for

’

der house H e bu y der piano for der sis

.

ters der carpets der pic tu res on der vall

, , .

H e bet
’
A n he iss all der ti me strai ght .
 T HE G AME 77

on himself dat iss der good sign V en .

der man bets on himself d a t is der time y ou

bet too
H ere M rs Si l verstein groaned her horror
.

of g ambling and her husband aware that

, ,

his eloquence ha d betrayed him collapsed ,

into voluble assurances that he w a s ahead of

“ ’
the ga m e . A n al l because of Joe Fle m

ing he con cluded

, I back him efery
.

”
time to Vin .

But Genevieve and Joe were preeminently

mated and nothing not even this terrible
, ,

discovery could keep them apart In vain

, .

Genevieve tried to stee l herself against him ;

but she fought herself not him To her
, .

surprise she discovered a thousand e x cuses

for him foun d him lovab l e as ever ; and she
,

entere d i nto his life to be his destiny and to ,

contro l him after the way of women She .

saw his fu ture an d hers through glowing

78 T HE G AME

Vistas of reform and her fi rst great deed w a s

,

when she wrung fr om him his promise to

cease fi gh ting .

n d he after the way of men pursuing

A , ,

the dream of love and striving for posses

sion of the precious and deathless obj ect
of desire had yielded A nd yet in the
, .
,

very moment of promising her he knew ,

vaguely deep down that he could never

, ,

abandon the Game ; that somewhere some ,

time in the future he must go back to it

, , .

A nd he had had a swift Vision of his mother

and brothers and sisters their multitudin ous,

wants the house with its painting and

,

m
repairing its street assessments and ta x es
, ,

and of the coming of children to h i and

Genevieve and of his o w n daily wage in
,

the sail making loft But the next moment

-
.

the Vision w a s dismissed as such warnings ,

are always dismissed and he saw before him

,
 THE G AME 79

on l y Genevi eve an d he knew on l y his

,

hun ger for her and the call of his being to

her ; and he accepte d calmly her calm
assumptio n of his life and actions .

H e was twenty she eighteen boy and

, ,

girl the pair of them and m ade for pro g

, ,

eny healthy and normal with steady blood

, ,

pounding through their bodies ; and W h er

ever they went together even on Sunday ,

outings across the bay amongst people who

did not know him eyes were continually
,

H e matched her girl s

’
drawn to them .

beauty with his boy s beauty her g race with

’

his strength her delicacy of l ine and fi bre

,

with the harsher Vigor and muscle of the

male . Frank face d fresh—
-
colored a l most
, ,

ingenuous in expression eyes blue and ,

wide apart he drew and held the gaze of

,

m ore than one woman far above him in the

social scal e .O f such g lances and dim
80 THE G AME
materna l pro m ptings he w as qu i te u n co n~

scious though Genevieve was quick to see

,

! b

‘
‘
h r
fi

and understan d ; and she knew each time

the pang of a fi erce j o y in that he w a s hers
and that she held him in the hol l ow of her
 TH E GA ME 81

hand H e d i d see however and rather

.
, ,

resented the m en s glances d rawn by her

,
’
.

These too she saw and understood as he

, ,

di d not d rea m of understandin g .

C H A PT E R I I I
 CH A P T E R I I I

GE NEV I E V E
’
slipped on a pair of Joe s
shoes l i g ht soled and dapper and lau g hed
,
-
,

with Lottie wh o stooped to turn up the

,

trousers for her . Lottie w a s his sister ,

and i n the secret To her w a s d ue the

.

inveigling of his m other into making a

neighborhood call so that they could have
the house to themselves .They went
d own into the kitchen where Joe w a s wait
in g
. H is face brightened as he came to
m eet her love sh i n i n g frankl y forth
, .

87
 THE G AME

m
Now g et up those skirts Lottie he
, ,

co manded . H aven t any time to waste

’
.

’
There that ll do
, .

Y ou see you only ,

want the bottoms

of the pants to
sho w The coat
will cover the rest .

’
Now let s see how
it ll fi t
’
.

B orrowed it
fr o m Chris ; he s a ’

dead sporty sport

- little but oh
, ,

my he went o n ,

helping Genevieve into an overcoat which ‘

fell to her heels and which fi tted her as a

tailor made overcoat should fi t the man for
-

whom it is made .

Joe put a cap on her head an d turned up

 THE G AME 89

the co l lar which was generous to exa ggera

,

tion meeting the cap and completely hiding

,

her hair When he buttoned the collar in

.

front its points served to cover the cheeks

, ,

chi n and mouth were buried in its depths ,

and a close scrutiny revealed only shadow y

eyes and a litt l e l ess shadowy nose She .

walked across the room the ,

bottoms of the trousers j ust

showi ng as the hang of the
coat was disturbed b y m ove
ment .

A sport with a co l d and

afraid of catching more al l ,

right al l right the boy ,

laughed proudly surveying

,

m
his handiwork H ow much
.

’
money you got ? I layin ’

ten to si x Will y ou take

.

”
the short end ?
 THE G AME
Who s short
’
she asked .

”
Ponta of course Lottie blurted out
, ,

h er hurt as though there could be any

,

question of it even for an instant

'

“
O f course Gene,

vieve said sweetly only ,

I don t know much

’

”
about such things .

This time Lottie kept

her lips together but the ,

new hurt showed on her face Joe .

looked at his watch and said it w a s time to

go. H is sister 3 arms went about his neck
’

and she kissed him soundly on the lips .

She kissed Genevieve too and saw them to

, ,

the gate one arm of her brother about her

,

waist .

“ What does ten to si x mean ? Gene ~

vieve asked the while their footfalls rang

,

out on the frosty air .

 T HE G AME 9 :

That I ’
mthe long end the favorite
“
, ,

he answered . That a man bets ten dol

lars at the ring side that I w in against si x
!
dollars another man is betti n g that I lose .

But if you re the

’

favorite and every

bo d y thinks you ll ’

win h ow does any

,

bo d y bet against
you
“ ’
Th at s what
makes prize—fighting
di fference of opin
’
ion he laughed Besides there s always
“

.
, ,

the chance of a lucky punch an accident ,

.

”
Lots of chance he said gravely
,
.

She shrank against him clin gingly an d ,

protectingly and he laughed with surety

,
.

’ ’
Y o u wait and you ll see
,
A n don t
’
.

get scare d at the start The fi rst few .

92 THE G AME

ds l l
’
be something fi erce That s
’

jo u n .

Ponta s strong point

’
H e s a w i ld man .
’

with all kinds of punches —a whirlwind , ,

and he gets his man in the fi rs t rounds .

H e s put away a whole lot of cleverer and

’

‘
better men than him I t s up to me to live .
’

through it that s all Then he ll be all in

,
’
.
’
.

m
Then I go after him j ust watch Y ou ll , .
’

know w hen I go after him a h I ll get ,

’ ’ ’

m
too .

They ca e to the hall on a dark street ,

corner ostensibly the quarters of an athletic

,

club but in reality an institution designed

,

m
for pulling o ff fi gh ts and keeping within the
police ordinan ce Joe drew away fro h er
.
'

and they walked apart to the entrance .

! eep y ou r hands in y ou r pockets

whatever you do Joe warned her ,

and ,

’
i t ll be all right O nly a couple of minutes
.

”
of it .
 THE G AME 93

H e s with ’
e m ,

Joe said to the door

keeper w h o was talk
,

ing with a policeman .

B oth men greeted

him familiarly taking ,

no notice of his com

panion .

They never tum

ble d n o b o dy ll tum
!
’

ble Joe assured her

, ,

as they climbed the

stairs to the second
’
story A nd even if they did they wouldn t
.
,

know w h o it w a s and they d keep it m u m ’

for me H ere come in here

.
,

H e whisked her i nto a little o fli ce like -

r oo m and left her seated on a d usty broken ,

bottomed chair A few minutes later h e

.

w a s back again clad in a l on g bath robe

, ,
94 THE G AME
canvas shoes on his feet She began to .

tremble against him and his arm passed ,

gently around her .

“
I t ll be all right Genevieve he said
’

, ,

“ ’
encouragingly I ve got it all fi xed
. .

No b o dy l l tumble
’
.

” “
I t s you Joe she said
’

, , I don t care .
’

”
for mysel f I t s you
.
’
.

“ ’
Don t care for yourself ! But that s ’

what I thought you was afrai d o f!

H e looked at her in amazement the ,

wonder of woman bursting upon him in

a more transcendent glory than ever and ,

he had seen much of the wonder of woman

i n Genevieve H e was speechless for a
.

m oment and then stammered :

,

Y ou mean me ? A nd you don t care ’

w hat people think ? or a n

y thin
g P — or

anything ?
A sharp double knock at the d oor and ,
 RU? 1
'

He l ft
e h er td
se a e on a d ty b r
us ,
b tt
o ke n - o o m h ir
d
e c a .
 THE G AME 97

“
a sharper Get a m ove on y ersel f you ,

Joe brou g ht him back to immed i ate

thin gs .

! uick one ,last kiss Genevieve he , ,

“ ’
whispered almost holily
,
I t s m y last .

fi gh t a n I ll fi gh t as never before wi th you

’ ’

l ookin at me
’
.

The next she knew the pressure of his ,

m
lips y et war m o n hers she w a s in a g r oup
,

of j ostling youn g fellows none of who ,

seemed to take the sli g htest notice of her .

Several had their coats o ff and their shirt

sleeves rolled u p They entered the hal l
.

fr o m the rear still keeping the casual

,

formation of the g roup an d m ove d slowl y ,

u p a side ais l e .

I t w a s a crow de d i l l li g hted hall barn

,
-
,

like in its proportions and the smoke ,

laden air gave a peculiar distortion to

eve ry thing She fe l t as thou g h she wou ld
.

G
98 T HE G AM E
s tifl e There were shrill cries of boys sel l
.

ing program m es and soda water and there ,

w a s a great bass r u m

ble of masculin e voices .

She heard a voice o fi er

’

ing ten to six on Joe

Fleming The utter
.

ance w a s monotonous
— hopeless it seemed ,

to her and she felt a

,

quick thrill I t w as .

her Joe against whom

everybody was afraid to
bet .

A nd she felt other thrills H er blood .

w a s tou ched as by fi re with romance a d

, , ,

venture — the unknown the mysterious

, ,

the terrible — as she penetrated this haunt

of men where wome n came not A nd there .

were other thril l s I t w as the only ti me in

.
 THE G AM E 99

h er l ife she had dared the rash thing For .

the fi rst time she was overstepping the

bounds laid down by that harshest of
tyrants the M rs Grundy of the working
, .

class She felt fear and for

.
,

herself though the m oment

,

before she had been t h ink

ing only of Joe .

Before she kne w ir the ,

fro n t of the hall had been

reached and she had gone
,

up half a dozen steps into a '

small dressing room This -

.

w a s crowded to su ffocation

— by men w h o played the

Ga m e she concluded in
, ,

one capacity or another .

A nd here she lost Joe But .

before the real personal fright could soundly

clutch her one of the y oun g fellows said
,
1 00 T HE G AME
“
gru ffi y ,
Come along with me y ou an d , ,

as she wedged out at his heels she noticed

that another one of the escort was follow
ing her .

They came upon a sort of stage which ,

accommodated three rows of men ; an d

she caught her fi rst glimpse of the squared
ring She was on a level W ith it and
.
,

s o near that she could have reached out

and touched its ropes She noticed that

.

it was covered with padded canvas B e .

yond the ring and on either si d e as in a

, ,

fo g she could see the crowded house

,
.

The dressing room she had left abutted

-

upon one corner of the ring Squeezing .

her way after her guide through th e seated

men she crossed the end of the hall an d
,

entered a similar dressing— room at the

other corner of the ring .

“
N ow don t make no noise an d stay
’
,
 TH E G AM E 1 0 1

here til l I come for y ou, i nstructed her

guide pointing out a peep ho l e arran g e
,
-

m ent in the wa ll of the roo m .

CH A PT E R IV
 C H A PT E R I V
SH E hurried to the peep hole and foun d
-
,

herself against the ring She cou l d s ee the

.

whole of it though part of the audience was

,

’
shut o fl The ring was well lighted by an
.

overhead cluster of patent gas -burners .

The front row of the men she had squeezed

past because of their paper and pen cils she
, ,

decided to be reporters from the local

papers u p town - O ne of them w as chew
.

m
ing gu m B ehind them o n the other tw o
.
,

rows of seats she coul d make out fi re en

,

10 7
1 0 8 THE G AME
from the near by engine—house and several
-

policemen in uniform I n the middle of .

the front row flanked by the reporters sat

, ,

the y oun g chief of police She w a s startled .

by catching sight of M r Clausen on the .

opposite side of the ring There he sat .

,

austere side whiskered pink and white

,
-
, ,

close up against the front of the ring .

Several seats farther o n in the same front,

row she discovered Silverstein his weazen

, ,

fea tures glowing W ith anticipation .

A few cheers heralded the advent of

several youn g fellows in shirt sleeves ,
-
,

carrying buckets bottles and towels who

, , ,

crawled through the ropes and crossed to

the diagonal corner from her O ne of them .

sat down on a stool and leaned back

against the ropes She saw that he w a s
.

bare legged with canvas shoes on his feet

-
, ,

and that his bo d y w a s swathed in a heavy

 THE GAME 1 0
9

white sweater I n the meantime another

.

group had occupied the corner directly

against her. Louder cheers drew her

attention to it an d she saw Joe seated on

,

a stool still clad in the bath robe his

, ,

short chestnut curls within a yard of her

eyes
.
1 1 0 THE GAME

m
A y o u n g m an in a black suit W ith a
, ,

o
p of hair and a preposterousl y tall
starched collar walked to the centre of the
,

ring and held up his han d .

Gentlemen will please

”
stop smoking he said , .

H is e ffort was a p
p l a u d ed by groans and
cat calls and she noticed
-
,

with indignatio n that no

bo d y stopped smoking .

M r Clausen held a burn

.

ing m atch in his fi ngers

whi l e the announcement
was being made and then ,

calmly lighted his cigar .

She fe l t that she hated him i n that moment .

H ow was her Joe to fi gh t in such an atmos

ph ere ? She could scarcely breathe herse l f ,

and she w a s only sitting down .

 THE GAME 1 1 1

The announcer ca m e over to Joe H e .

stood u p H is bath robe fel l away from

.

him and he stepped forth to the centre of

,

the ring naked save for the low canvas shoes

,

and a narrow hip cloth of white Gene-

.

v iev e s eyes dropped She sat al one with

’
.
,

none to see but her face was burning with

,

shame at sight of the beautifu l nakedness

of her lover But she looked again
.
,

guiltily for the j o y that was hers in b e

,

holding what she knew must be sinfu l to

behold The l eap of something wit h in
.

her an d the stir of her being toward hi m

m ust be sinful But it w a s delicious sin
.
,

and she did not deny her eyes I n vain .

M rs Grundy admonished her The pagan

. .

i n her ori gina l sin and all na ture urged

, ,

her o n The m others of all the past were

.

whispering through her and there was a ,

clamor of the children unborn But of .

1 1 2 TH E G AME
this she knew nothing She knew only .

that it w a s sin and she lifted her head

,

proudly recklessly res olved in one great

, ,

surge of revolt to sin to the utter ,

m ost .

She had never dreamed of the form under

the clothes The form beyond the hands
.
,

a n d the face had no part in her m ental

,

processes A child of garmented civiliza

.

tion the garment w a s to her the form

, .

m
The race of men was to her a race of gar
en ted bipeds with hands and faces and
,

hair covered heads

-
When she thought .

of Joe the j o e instantly Visualized on her

,

mind was a clothed Joe — girl —cheeked ,

blue eyed curly headed but clothed A nd

-
,
-
, .

there h e stood all but naked godlike in

, , ,

a white blaze of light She had never con .

ceiv ed of the form of God except as nebu

l o u sl y naked and the thought association

,
-
 THE G AME 1 1 3

was startl ing I t seemed to

.

her that her sin partook

m
of sacrilege or blasphemy .

H er chromo trained s-

thetic sense exceeded its

education and told her that
here were beauty and won
der She had always liked
.

the phys ical presentment of

Joe but it was a present
,

ment of clothes and she ,

had thought the pleasingness

of it due to the neatness and
taste with which he dressed .

She had never dreamed that this

lurked beneath I t dazzled her H is skin
. .

was fair as a woman s far m ore satiny and

’
, ,

no rudimentary hair growth marred its white

-

lustre . This she perceived but all the ,

rest the perfection of line and strength

,

H
1 1 4
. THE G AME
an d deve l op m ent gave pleasure without her
,

knowi ng wh y There w a s a cleanness and

.

grace about it H is face was like a cameo

.
,

and his lips parted in a smi l e made it ver y

, ,

boyish .

H e s m iled as he faced the audience ,

whe n the announcer placing a hand on his ,

“
shoul d er said : Joe Fleming the Pride
, ,

”
of West Oakland .

Cheers and hand c l appings storme d u p-

,

“
and she heard a ffecti onate cries of O h ,

you Joe ! ,
”
M en shoute d it at him again
and agam ,

H e wa l ke d back to his corner Never .

to her did he seem less a fi gh ter than then .

H i s eyes were too mild ; th ere was not a

spark of the beast in them nor in his face , ,

while his bo d y seemed too fragile what of ,

its fairness and smoothness and his face ,

too boyish an d sweet tempered and intel -

 FEHRY nu !

th e p rf ti
e ec on of li ne a nd s tr gth
en and dvlp
e e o mt en .
 THE G AME 1 1
7
’
ligen t
. She did not have the expert s eye
for the depth of chest the wi d e nostrils
, ,

the recuperative lungs and the muscles ,

under their satin sheaths crypts of

energy W herein l urked the chemistry of
destruction To her he looked l ike a some
.

thing of Dresden c h ina to be handled ,

gentl y and with care liable to be shattere d

,

to fragments by the fi rst rough touch !

J ohn Ponta stripped of his white sweater

,

by the pulling and hauling of tw o of his

seconds came to the
,

centre of the ring .

She knew terror as

she looked at him .

H ere w a s the fi gh ter

the beast with a
streak for a forehead ,

W ith beady eyes under lowering and bush y

brows fl at—
,
nosed thick lipped sullen
,
-
,
1 1 8 THE GAM E
mouthed H e was heavy—
. j awed bull necked ,
-
,

and the short straight hair of the head

,

“
seemed to her frightened eyes the s tifl bris
tles on a hog s back H ere were coarseness
’
.

and brutishness — a thing savage primordial , ,

ferocious H e was swarthy to blackness

.
,

m
and his bo d y w a s covered with a hairy
growth that atted like a dog s on his ’

chest and shoulders H e was deep chested .

-
,

thick-legged large muscled but u nshapely

,
-
, .

H is muscles were knots and he w a s gnarled ,

and knobby twisted out of beauty by excess

,

of strength .

“
John Ponta West Bay A thlet i c Club
, ,

said the announcer .

A much smaller volume of cheers greeted

him I t w a s evident that the crowd favored
.

m m
Joe with its sympathy .

Go in a n eat Ponta ! E at ’
i
’ ’
u
p ,

a voice shouted in the lull .

 THE G AME 1 1 9

This w a s recei v ed by scornful cries and

groans H e did not like it for his sul len
.
,

mouth twisted into a half snarl as he went-

back to his corner H e was too decided an

.

’
atavism to draw the crowd s admiration .

I nstinctively the crowd disliked him H e .

w a s an animal lacking in intelligence and

,

spirit a menace and a thing of fear as the

, ,

tiger and the snake are menaces and things

of fear better behind the bars of a cage than
,

running free in the open .

m
A nd he felt that the crowd had no relish
for him H e w a s like an ani al in the
.

circle of its enemies and he turned and

,

glared at them with malignant eyes Little .

Silverstein shouting out Joe s name with

,
’

high glee shrank away from Ponta s gaze

,
’

shrivelled as in fi erce heat the sou nd gur

,

gling and dying in his throat Genevieve .

saw the little b y—play and as Ponta s eyes

,
’
 THE G AME
slowly swept round the circle of their hate
and met hers she too shrivelled and shrank
, , ,

back The nex t m oment the y were past

.
,

pausing to centre long on Joe I t seemed .

to her that Ponta w as working himself

into a rage Joe re .

turned the gaze with

mild boy s eyes but ’

his face grew serious .

The announcer és
co rted a third man to

the centre of the ring ,

a genial faced young-

fellow in s hi rt—sleeves .

Edd y Jones wh o will referee this con

,

test s ai d the announcer

, .

m
“
Oh y ou E ddy
, , men shouted in the
idst of the applause and it was apparent to
,

Genevieve that h e too w a s well beloved

, , .

Both men were being helped into the

 THE G AM E 1 2 1

gloves b y their seconds an d one of P onta s

,
’

seconds came over and examined the gloves

’
before they went on Joe s hands The ref .

eree ca l led them to the centre of the ring .

The seconds followed an d they made quite

,

a g roup Joe and Ponta facing each other

, ,

the referee i n the m iddle the secon d s lean

,

i ng with han ds on one another s shoulders ’

their heads craned forward The referee .

was talkin g and a l l listened attentivel y

, .

The g roup broke u p A gain the a n

.

n ou n cer came to the front .

Joe Fleming fi gh ts at one hundred and

” “
twenty eight he sai d ; Joh n Ponta at
-
,

one h undred and forty They will fi gh t

.

as long as one hand is free and take care ,

of themse l ves in the break—awa y The .

audience m u st remember that a decision

must be given There are no draws
.

”
fought before this cl u b o
 THE GAME
He crawled through the r opes and
dropped from the ring to the floor .

There w a s a s cuttling in the corners as

the seconds cleared out through the ropes ,

taking with them the stools and buckets .

O nly remained in the ring the two fi gh ters

a nd the referee A gong sounded
. The
.

two men advan ced rapidly to the centre .

Their right hands extended

m
and for a fraction of an
instant e t in a per
fu n cto ry shake Then .

Ponta l ashed out ,

savagely right and

,

left and Joe escaped by

,

springing back Like a .

proj ectile Ponta hurl ed

,

himself after him and u p

on him .

was o n Genevieve clutched

.
 THE G AME 1 2
3

one hand to her breast and watched She .

was bewildered by the swiftness and sa v a g

’
ery of Ponta s assault and by the multi
,

tude of blows he struck She felt that

,

Joe was surel y bein g destroye d A t times .

she could not see his face so obscured ,

w a s it b y the flying gloves But she.

cou ld hear the resounding blows and with ,

the sound of each blow she felt a sicken

ing sensation in the pit of her stomach .

She did not know that what she heard

was the impact of g l ove o n glove or glove ,

on shoulder and that no damag e was being

,

done.

She w a s suddenly aware that a change

had come over the fi gh t Both m en were
.

clutching each other in a tense embrace ;

no blows were being stru ck at all She .

recognized it to be what Joe had described

“ ”
to her as the c l inch . Ponta was s trug
1 24
. THE G AME
gling to free himself Joe w a s holding o n
,
.

The referee shouted Break !

,
Joe made
an e ffort to get away but Ponta got one
,

hand free and Joe

rushed back into
a second clin ch to
escape the b l ow But .

this time she noticed

, ,

the heel of his glove

was pressed against
’
Ponta s mouth and
chin and at the sec
,

“ ”
ond Break ! of
the referee Joe ,

shoved his oppo

n en t s head back and sprang clear himsel f
’
.

For a brief several seconds she had an

unobstructed View o f h er lover Left foot
‘

a trifl e advanced knees slightl y bent he

, ,

w a s crouching with h i s head drawn wel l

,
 TH E G AME 1 2 5

down betwe en his shoulders an d shielde d

by the m H is hands were in position
.

before him ready hither to attack or de

,

fend The muscles of his body were tense

.
,

and as he moved about she could see

them bunch u p and writhe and craw l l ike
live things u nder the white skin .

But agai n Ponta was u pon hi m and he

was strugglin g to l ive H e crouched a
.

bit more drew his bo d y m ore compactl y

,

to g ether and covered up with his hands

, ,

elbows and forearms Blows rained upon

, .

him and it looked to her as though he

,

were bei n g beaten to death But he was

.

receiving the blows on his gloves and

shoulders rocking back and forth to the
,

force of them like a tree in a storm while ,

the house cheered its delight I t was n o t

.

until she understood t h is applause and ,

saw Silverstein half out of his seat and

1 2 6 THE GAME
intensely madly happy and heard the O h
, , ,

”
y ou Joe,s !
’
from many throats ,
that she
realized that instead of being c ruelly pun
ish ed he w a s acquitting himself well .Then
he would emerge for a moment again to be
,

enveloped and hidden in the whirlwind

of Ponta s ferocity
’
.
C H A PT E R V
 C H A P TE R V

TH E g on g sounded I t seeme d the y

had been fi gh tin g half an hour though ,

from what Joe had told her she knew it

ha d been on l y three minutes With the .

crash of the gong Joe s seconds were

’

through the ropes an d running him i nto

his corner for the blessed minute of rest .

O ne man squatti n g on the floor between

,

h is outstretched feet and elevatin g them

by resting them on his knees w as Violentl y
,

ch a fi n his l egs Joe sat on the stoo l

g .
,

1 31
1
3 2 TH E G AME

leaning far back into the corner head ,

thrown back and arms outstretched on the

ropes to give easy expansion to the chest .

With wide open mouth he w a s breathing

-

the towel driven air furnished by tw o of

-

the seconds while listening to the counsel

,

m
of still another second w h o talked with
low voice in his ear and at the same ti e

m
sponged o ff his face shoulders and chest
, , .

H ardly had al l this been a cco plis h e¢

( it had taken no more than several seconds ! ,

when the gong sounde d the seconds scuttled

,

through the ropes with their paraphernalia ,

and Joe and Ponta were advancing against

each other to the centre of the ring Gene .

vieve had n o idea that a minute could be

so short For a m omen t she felt that his
.

rest had been cut and was suspicious of sh e

,

knew not what .

Ponta lashed out right and left savagely

, ,
 THE G AM E 1 33

as ever and though Joe b l ocked the blows

, ,

such was the force of them that he w a s

knocked backward several steps Ponta .

was after him with the spri n g of a tiger .

m
’

I n the involuntary cfi o rt to maintain equ ilib

riu ,
Joe had u ncovered himself flinging ,

one arm out and lifting his hea d from be

tween the sheltering shoulders So swiftly .

had P onta followed him that a terrible

,

swinging blow was coming at his unguarded

j aw H e ducked forward and down Ponta s
.
,
’

fi st just missing the back of his head As .

he came back to the perpendicular Ponta s ,

’

left fi st drove at him in a straight punch that

would have knocked him backward through
the ropes A gain and with a swiftness an
.
,

i nappreciable fraction of time quicker than

’
Ponta s he ducked forward
, Ponta s fist
.
’

grazed the backward slope of the shoulder ,

and glanced o fi into the air Ponta s right

.
’
1 34 . THE GAM E
d rove strai g ht out and the g raze w a s re
,

ea ted as Joe ducked i nto the safet y of a

p
clinch .

Genevieve sighe d with re l ief her tense

,

bo d y relaxing and a faintness coming over

her The crowd
.

was cheeri ng
madly Silverstein
.

was on his feet ,

shouting gesticu ,

m
lating co m pletely
,

out o fh i self A nd .

even M r Clausen w a s
.

yelling his enthusiasm at ,

the top of h i s lun g s into the ear of his

,

nearest neighbor .

The clinch was broken and the fi gh t went

oh . Joe blocked and backed an d sli d
, ,

around the ring avoidin g blows and l iving

,

somehow through the whirlwind ons l aughts .

 THE G AME 1 35

Rarely d id he strike blows himsel f for ,

Ponta had a quick eye and could defend as

well as attack while J oe had no chance
,

’
against the other s enormous Vitality H is .

h 0 pe l ay in that Ponta himse l f should ulti

matel y consume his strength .

But Genevieve w a s beginning to wonder

Wh y her lover did not fi gh t She grew
.

angry She wanted to see him wreak v en

.

ea n ce on this beast that persecuted him s o

g .

E ven as she wax ed impatient the chance ,

came and Joe whipped his fi s t to Ponta s

,
’

m outh I t w a s a staggering blow

. She .

saw Ponta s head go back with a j erk and

’

the quick dye of bloo d o n his lips The .

blow an d the great shout from the audience

, ,

angered him H e rushed like a wild man

.
'

The fury of his previous assaults was as

nothing compared with the fh ry of this one .

A nd there was no more oppor tu nity for a n

1
36 THE GAME

other blow Joe was too busy living

.

through the storm he had already caused ,

blocking covering
,

u
p and ,ducking
into the safety
and respite of
the clinches .

But the clinch

was not all safety
and respite EV .

ery instant of it
was tense watch
fulness while the
,

break-away w a s
still more dangerous Genevieve had no
.

ticed with a slight touch of amusement the

, ,

curious way in which Joe snuggled his bo d y

’
in against Ponta s in the clin ches ; but she
had not realized why until in one such
, ,

clinch before the snuggling i n cou l d be

,
 TH E G AME 1
37

e ffected Ponta s fi st whipped straight up in

,
’

’
the air from under and missed Joe s chin
,

by a hair s —breadth I n another and later

’
.

clinch when she had already re l axed and

,

sighed her relief at seeing hi m safely snug

’
gled Ponta his chin over Joe s shoulder
, , ,

lifted his right ar m an d struck a terrible

downward blow o n the small of the back .

The crowd groaned its apprehension while ,

’
Joe quickly locked his opponent s arms to
prevent a repetition of the blow .

The gon g struck and after the fl eetin g

,

minute of rest they went at it again —in

,

’
Joe s corner for Ponta had made a rush to
,

meet him clear across the ring Where the .

blow had been struck over the kidneys the , ,

white skin had become brigh t red This .

splash of color the size of the glove fasci

, ,

n a te d and fri g htened Genevieve so that she

cou l d scarcely take her eyes from it .

1
38 THE GAME

Promptly in the nex t clinch the blow was

, ,

repeate d ; but after that Joe usually man

aged to give Ponta the hee l of the glove
o n the m outh and so ho l d his head back .

This prevented the striking of the blow ;

but three times m ore before the round
,

'

ended Ponta efi ected the trick each

, ,

time striking the same

vulnerabl e part .

A nother rest an d a n
other round went
b y with no further
,

m
damage to Joe
and no di inu
tion of strength
on the part of
Ponta But in
.

the be ginning
of the fi fth round Joe caught i n a corner
, , ,

made as though to duck i nto a clin ch .

 THE G AM E 1 39
'

Just before it was efi ected and at the pre ,

cise m oment that Ponta w a s ready with his

own bo d y to rece i ve the snu ggling in of
’
Joe s bod y Joe drew back slightly and
,

drove with his fi s ts at his opponent s u n ’

protected sto m ach Lightning-like blows

.

they were four of them ri ght and left right

, , ,

and l eft ; and heav y they were for Ponta ,

winced awa y from them and staggered back ,

half d ropping h i s arms his shoulders droop,

in g forw ar d an d in as though he were about

,

to d oub l e i n at the wai st an d collapse .

’
Joe s quick e y e saw the opening and he ,

’
smashe d straight out upon Ponta s mouth ,

followin g i nstantl y w ith a half swing half ,

hook for the j aw I t missed striking the

, .
,

cheek instead and sendin g Ponta stagger

,

ing sideways .

The house was on its feet shouting to , ,

a m an Genevieve could hear men crying

.
,
1 40 THE G AME

H e s got
’ ’
m
he s got ,
’
m
l and i t seemed
’

to her the beginning of the end She too .

, ,

was out of herself ; softness and ten d erness

vanished ; she e x ulted with each crush

ing blow her lover delivered .

But Ponta s vitality w a s yet to be reck

’

o u ed w ith A s like a tiger he had fol

.
, ,

lowed Joe u p Joe now followed him u p

,
.
 T HE G AME 1 41

He ma d e another half swing half hook for , ,

Ponta s j aw and Ponta already recovering

’

, ,

his wits and strength ducked cleanly , .

Joe s fi st passed on through empty air and

’

so great was the m omentum of the blo w

that it carried him around i n a half twirl , ,

sideways Then Ponta lashed out with his

.

left H isglove l anded on Joe s unguarded

.
’

’
neck Genevieve saw her lover s arms drop
.

to his sides as his bo d y lifted went back ,

ward and fell limply to the floor The

, .

referee bending over him began to count

, ,

the seconds emphasizing the passage of eac h

,

second with a downward sweep of his righ t

arm .

The audience w as sti l l as death Ponta .

had partly turned to the house to receive

the approval that w a s his due only to be ,

met by this chill graveyard silence ! uick

, .

wrath surged up in him I t was unfair . .

1 42 THE G AME
H is opponent only w as applau d ed — if he
struck a blow if he escaped a blow ; h e
, ,

Ponta w h o had forced the fi gh tin g fro m the

,

start had received no word of cheer

, .

H is eyes blazed as he gathered himself

together and sprang to his prostrate foe .

H e crouched alongside of him right arm ,

drawn back and ready for a smashing blow

the instant Joe should start to rise The .

referee still bending over and counting with

,

his right hand shoved Ponta back with his

,

left The latter crouching circled around

.
, , ,

and the referee circled with him thrusting ,

him back and keeping between him and the

fallen man .

“
Four — fi v e — six the count went
on ,
and J oe rolling over on his face
, ,

squirmed weakly to draw himself to his

knees This he succeeded in doing resting
.
,

o n one knee a hand to the floor on either

,
 TH E G AME 1 43

side an d the other leg bent un d er him to

“
help him rise Take the count ! Take
.

”
the cou nt ! a dozen voices rang out from
the audience .

’
For God s sake take the count I one of ,

Joe s secon ds cried warningly from the edge

'

of the ri ng Genevieve gave him one swift

.

glance and saw the y o un g fellow s face drawn

,
.
’

and white his lips unconsciously moving

,

as he kept the cou nt with the referee .

Seven eight
nine the sec
o n d s went .

The ninth sounded and

w a s gone W hen the referee
,

gave Ponta a last back

ward shove and Joe came to
his feet bunched u p covered u p weak but
, , , ,

cool v ery cool Ponta hurled himself upon

, .

him with terrifi c force delivering an upper ,

1 44 THE G AME
cut and a straight punch But Joe b l ocke d
.

the two ducked a third stepped to the

, ,

side to avoid a fourth and w a s then driven

,

backward into a corner by a hurricane of

blows .H e was exceedingly weak He .

tottered as he kept his footing and stag ,

g ered back and forth H is back. w as

against the ropes There was no further

.

retreat Ponta paused as if to m ake

.
,

doubly sure then feinted with his left and

,

struck fi ercel y with his right with all his

strength But Joe ducked into a cl inch
.

and was for a moment saved .

Ponta struggled frantically to free himself .

H e wanted to give the fi n ish to this foe

already so far gone But Joe w a s holding
.

on for life resisting the other s every e ffort

,
’

as fast as one hold or grip was torn loose

fi n ding a new one by which to cling .

”
Break ! the referee commanded Joe .
 THE G AME 1 45

M ake m
m
held
’
on tighter . break ! Why
the hell don t you make
’
break ? Ponta
’

panted at the referee A gain the latter com

.
~

man d ed
the break Joe refused keeping as
.
, ,

h e well knew within his rights E ach mo

, .

ment of the clinch his strength was comi n g

back to him his brain was clearing the cob
, ,

!
1 4 6 T HE G AM E
webs were disappearing from before his ey es .

The round was young and he must live , ,

somehow through the nearly three minutes

,

of it yet to run .

The referee clutched each by the shoulder

and sundered them Violently passing quickly ,

between them as he thrust them back

ward in order to make a clean break of it .

The moment he w a s free Ponta sprang at ,

Joe like a wild animal bearing down its prey .

But Joe covered u p blocked and fell into a

, ,

clinch A gain Ponta struggled to get free Joe

.
,

held o n and the referee thrust them apart

, .

A nd again Joe avoided damage and clinched .

Genevieve realized that in the clinches he

w a s not being beaten — w h y then did not , ,

the referee let him hold o n ? I t w a s cruel .

She hated the genial faced Eddy Jones in

-

those moments and she partly rose from

,

her chair her hands clenched with anger

, ,
 THE G AME 1 47

the nails cutting into the palms till they

hurt. The rest of th e round the three ,

long minutes of it was a succession of ,

clinches and breaks Not once did Ponta .

succeed in striking his opponent the deadly ‘

fi n a l blow A nd Ponta was like a madman

.
,

raging because of his impotency in the face

of his helpless and all but v anquished foe .

One blow only one blow and h e could not

, ,

’
deliver it i Joe s ring experience and cool
ness saved him With shaken conscious.

ness and trembling body h e clutched and ,

held o n while the ebbing life turned and

,

fl oo d ed up in him again O nce in his .

,

passion unable to hit him Ponta made as

, ,

though to lift him up and hurl him to the

floor .

“ ’ ’ ”
V y don t you bite him ? Silverstein

taunted shrilly .

I n the stillness the sally w a s h ear d over

 THE G AME
the whole house an d ,

the audience relieved ,

of its anxiety for its

favorite laughed with ,

an uproariousness that
had in it the note of
hysteria E ven Gene .

vieve felt that there was

something irresistibly funny in the remark ,

m
and the relief of the audience was com
u n ica ted to her ; yet she felt sick and
faint and was overwrought with horror at
,

what she had seen and was seeing .

“ ’
Bite m l Bite m l voices fro m the
’

“
recovered audience were shouting Chew .

m m
his ear o ff Ponta ! That s the on l y way
,
’

m
’
y ou can get m l E at
’
u
p ! E at up ’

O h w h y don t you eat

,
’
u
p i
’

The e ffect was bad on Ponta H e be .

came more frenzied than ever and more ,

 THE G AME 1 49

impotent H e panted and sobbed wasti n g

.
,

his e ffort b y too much e ffort losing sanity,

and control and futilely trying to com

pensate for the loss by excess of physical
endeavor H e knew only the blind desire
.

to destroy s hook Joe i n the clinches as a

,

terrier might a rat strained and struggled for

,

freedom of bo d y and arms and all the while

,

Joe calmly clutched and held o n The ref .

eree worked manfully an d fairly to separate

them Perspirati on ran down his face It

. .

took all his strength to split those clinging

bodies and n o sooner had he split them
,

than Joe fell unharmed into another embrace

and the w ork had to be done all over again .

I n vain when freed did Ponta try to avoid

, ,

the clutching arms and twining bo d y H e .

could not keep away H e had to come

.

close in order to strike and each time Joe

,

ba fli ed him an d caught hi m in his arms .

 THE GAME
A nd Genevieve crouched in the little
,

d ressing room and peering through the

-

peep hole w a s ba ffl ed too She was an

-
, , .

interested party i n what seemed

a death struggle — was not
-

one of the fi gh ters her Joe ?

— but the audien ce under
stood and she did not .

The Game had not u n

veiled to her The lure .

of it was beyond h er .

I t was greater m ystery

than ever She could.

not comprehend its power .

What delight could there be

for Joe in that brutal surging
and straining of bodies those ,

fi erce clutches fi ercer blows and terrible

, ,

hurts ? Surely she Genevieve o ffered

, , ,

more than that — rest and content and

, ,
 THE G AM E 1 51

sweet calm j oy
,
H er bid for the heart
.

of him and the soul of him w a s fi n er and

more generous than the bid of the Game ;
yet he dallied with both hel d her in his
arms but turned his head to listen to that
,

other and siren call she could not under

stand .

The gong struck The round ended

.

with a break in Ponta s corner The white

’
.

faced youn g second was through the ropes

with the fi rst clash of sound H e seized.

Joe in his arms lifted him clear of the

,

fl oor and ran with him across the ring to

,

his own corner H is seconds worked over

.

him furiously ch a fi n g his legs slapping

, ,

his abdomen stretching the hip —cloth out

,

with their fi n gers so that he might breathe

more easily For the fi rs t time Genevieve
.

saw the stomach breathing of a man an

-
,

abdo m en that rose a n d fell far m ore with

1 52 TH E G AME

every breath than her breast rose an d fel l

after she had run for a car The pungenc y
.

of ammonia bit her nostrils wafted to her

,

from the soaked sponge

wherefrom he breathed
the fi ery fumes that
cleared his brain .

H e gargled his
mouth and throat ,

took a suck at a
di v ided lemon and
,

all the while the

towels worked like
mad driving oxygen
,

into his lungs to

purge the pounding blood and
send it back rev iv ifi ed for the struggle yet
to come H is heated bo d y was sponged
.

with water doused with it and bottles were

, ,

turned mouth downward on his head

-
.
C H A P T ER V I
 CH A P TE R VI
TH E g ong for the si x th roun d struck and ,

both men advanced to meet each other ,

their bodies glistening with water Ponta .

rushed two thirds of the w a y across the

-

ring so intent w as he on gettin g at his man

,

'

before fu ll recovery could be efi ected But .

Joe had lived throu g h H e w a s s tron g

.

again and getting stronger H e blocked

, .

several Vicious b l ows an d then smashe d

back sending Ponta reeling H e attempte d
,
.

to fol l ow u p but wisel y forbore and con

,

I
S7
1 58 THE G AME
m
tente d hi se l f with blocking an d cover i ng
u p in the whirlwind his blow had raised .

The fi gh t was as it had been at the be

ginning — Joe protecting Ponta rushing
~
,
.

But Ponta w a s never at ease H e did not .

have it all his own way A t any moment .

,

i n his fi ercest onslaughts his opponent w a s

,

liable to lash out and reach him Joe saved .

his strength H e struck one blow to

.

’
Ponta s ten but his one blow rarely missed
, .

Ponta overw h elmed him in the attacks yet ,

could do nothing with him while Joe s ,

’

tiger-like strokes alwa y s imminent com

, ,

el l e d respect They toned Ponta s ’

p .

ferocity H e was no longer able to go in

.

with the complete abandon of destructive

ness which had marked his earlier e fforts ,

But a change was coming over the

fi gh t . The audien ce was quick to note
ir and even Genevieve saw it by the
,
J oe p r t ti g
o ec n , P o n ta r hi
us ng .
 TH E G AME 1 61

begi nn i ng of the ninth roun d Joe w a s,

taking the o ffensive I n the clinches it

.

was he w h o brou g ht his fi st down on the

small of the back striking
,
terrib l e
kidne y blow H e did
.

i t once in each
,

clinch but with

,

all his strength and he,

did it every clinch Then .

—
in the break aways he be ,

gan to upper— cut Ponta on

the stomach or to hook
,

his j aw or strike straight

out u pon the mouth But ,

at fi rst sign of a comin g whirlwind ,

would dance nimbly away and cover u p .

Two rounds of this went by and three , ,

but Ponta s strength though perceptibly

’

’
l ess did not diminish rapidly Joe s task
, .

was to wear down that strength not with ,

1 62 THE G AME
one b l ow nor ten but with blow after
, ,

blow without end until that enormous

, ,

strength should be beaten sheer out of

its bo dy There was n o rest for the man
. .

Joe followed him u p step by step his , ,

advancing left foot making an audible tap ,

tap tap on the hard canvas

,
‘

,
Th en there .

would come a sudden leap in tiger like ,

-
,

a blow struck or blows and a swift leap

, ,

back whereupon the left foot would take

,

u p again its tapping advance W h en .

Ponta made his savage rushes Joe care ,

fu lly covered u p only to emerge his left , ,

foot going tap tap tap as he immediately , , ,

followed u p .

Ponta was slowly weakenin g To the .

crowd the end was a foregone conclu

sion .

”
O h y ou Joe ! it y e l le d its a d miration
, ,

an d a ffecti on .
 THE G AME 1 63

m
“
I t s a sha m e to take the m oney !
’
it
“ ’
m ocked Why don t you eat
. Ponta ? ’

Go on in a n eat m l
’ ’

I n the one minute intermissions P onta s -

’

seconds worked over him as they had not

m
worke d before Their calm trust i n his tre .

en d o u s Vi tality ha d been betrayed Gene .

vieve watched their e x cited

'

efi o rts while she listened

,

to the white — faced sec

on d cauti oning J oe .

Take your
ti m e he was say
,

m
“ ’
in g .Y ou ve got
’
but y ou g ot to
,

m
take y our ti m e I ve .
’

fi gh t
’
seen He s .
’

m
got a punch to the end of the
’
count I ve seen . knocked out an d clean
’

batty a n go on pu n ch in j ust the same

,
’ ’
.
1 64 T HE G AME
M ickey Sul l ivan had Puts to ’
mgoin ’
.
’
m
the mat as fast as he crawls u p si x times , ,

an then leaves an O pening Ponta reaches

’
.

for his j aw an two minutes afterward M ick

,

m
’
ey s o pen in his eyes a n askin what s
’ ’ ’

m
’
doin So you ve got to watch
.
’
No ’
.

goin in a n a bso rbin one of the lucky

’ ’ ’

punches now I got money on this fi gh t

,
.
,

’
but I don t call it mine till he s counted ’

out .

Ponta was being doused with water A s .

the gong sounded on e of his seconds ,

inverted a water bottle on his head H e .

started toward the centre of the ring and ,

the second followed him for several st eps ,

keeping the bottle still inverted The

referee shouted at him and he fled the ,

ring dropping the bottle as he fled I t

, .

rolled over and over the water gurgling , ~

out upon the canvas till the referee with ,

 THE G AME 1 65

a quick flirt of his toe sent the bottle

,

rolling through the ropes .

I n al l the previous rounds Genevieve

had not seen Joe s fi gh tin g face which
’

had been prefi gu red to her that m orning

in the department store Sometimes his
'

face had been quite boyish ; other ti mes ,

when taking his fi ercest punishment it had ,

been bleak and gray ; and still later when ,

living thr ough and clutching and holding

ou, it had taken on a wistful expression .

But now out of danger himsel f and as he

,

forced the fi gh t his fi gh tin g face came

,

upon him . She saw i t and shuddered ‘

I t removed him so far from her She had .

thought she knew him all of him and

, ,

held him in the hollo w of her hand ; but

this she did not know this face of steel ,

this mouth of steel these eyes o f steel

,
.

fl a shin g the light and glitter of steel It .

 THE G AME
seemed to her the pas
s io n l ess face of an
avenging angel stamped ,

only with the purpose

of the Lord .

P o n ta a ttem p ted
one of his old
time ru shes but was ,

stopped on the
mouth Implacable .
,

m
insist ent ever menacin g never let
, ,

ting him rest Joe followed h i u p The

, .

round the thirteenth closed with a rush

, , ,

i n Ponta s corner H e atte m pted a rally

’
.
,

was brought to his knees took the nine ,

seconds count and then tried to clinch into

’

’
sa fety onl y to receive four of Joe s terrible
,

stomach punches so that with the gong

,

he fell back gaspin g into the arms of his

, ,

secon d s .
 T HE G AM E 1 67

Joe ran across the ring to his own

m m
corner.

Now I ’
going to get he said to ’

m
his secon d .

Y ou sure fi x ed that time the l atter

’

“
answered . Nothin to stop you now but
’

”
a lucky punch Watch out for it
. .

Joe l eaned forward feet gathered under ,

him for a sprin g l ike a foot-racer waiting

,

the start H e w a s waiting for the gong

. .

When it sounde d he shot forward and

across the ring catch i n g Ponta in the midst
,

of his seconds as he rose from his stool .

A nd in the midst of his seconds Ponta

went down knocked down b y a right
,

hand blow A s he arose from the con

.

fusion of buckets stools and seconds Joe

, , ,

put him down aga i n A nd yet a third

.

time he went down before h e could escape

fro m his own corner .
1 68 THE GAM E
Joe had at last beco m e the whirlwind .

“
Genevieve remembered his Just watch ,

you ll know when I go after him

’
The .

house kne w it too I t was on its feet

, .
,

every voice r aised in a

fi erce yell It .

was the blood

cry of the crowd and ,

it sounded to her like

what she imagined
m ust be the howling
of wolves A nd what
.

with con fidence in her lover s ’

Victory she foun d room in her

heart to pity Ponta .

I n vain he struggled to defend himself ,

to block to cover u p to duck to clinch

, , ,

i nto a moment s safety

’
That m oment
.

w a s denied him . ! nockdown after knock

down was his portion H e was knocked

.
 T HE G AME 1 69

to the canvas backwards and sideway s w as , ,

punched in the clinches and in the break

aways — s tifi j olty blows that dazed his
'

brain and drove the strength from his

muscles H e w a s knocked into the corners
.

and out again against the ropes rebound

, ,

ing and with another blow against the ropes

,

m
once more H e fan ned the air with his
.

arms showering savage blows upon e pti

,

n ess . There was nothing human left in

him H e w a s the beast incarnate roaring
.
,

and raging and being destroyed H e was .

smashed down to his knees but refused ,

to take the count staggering to his feet,

only to be met s tifil h a n d ed on the mouth

and sent hurling back against the ropes .

I n sore travail gasping reeling panting

, , , ,

with glazing eyes and sobbing breath gro ,

tes u e and heroic fi h tin

q g g to the
,
l ast s triv ,

ing to get at his antagonist he surged ,

1 70 THE G AME
and was d riven about the ring A nd .

i n that mo m ent J o e s foot slipped o n

’

’
the wet canvas Ponta s .

swimmin g eyes saw an d

knew the chance A l l .

the fl eein g strength of

his bo d y g athered i tself
together for the li g htnin g
lucky punch Even as Joe .

slipped the other smote

him fairly on the po i nt of
,

the chin H e went over

.

backward Genevieve saw

.

his musc l es rela x whi l e he

w a s y et in the air and she ,

heard the thud of his hea d

on the canvas .

The no i se of the yelling house d ie d

suddenly The referee stooping over the
.
,

inert bo d y w a s counting the seconds

, .
 THE G AM E 1
7 1

P onta tottered and fel l to his knees H e .

stru ggled to his feet swaying back an d

,

forth as he tried to sweep the audience

wi th h is hatred H is l egs were tremblin g
.

and ben d ing u nder him ; he was choking

and so bbing fi gh tin g to breathe
, He .

ree l ed backward and saved himsel f from

,

falling b y a b lind clutching for the ropes .

H e clun g there droopin g an d bendin g

,

and g ivin g in al l his bo dy hi s head upon ,

his chest unti l the referee cou nte d the

,

fata l tenth second an d po i nted to him i n

token that he ha d won .

H e receive d no app l ause and he ,

squ i rm ed throu g h the ropes snakelike , ,

m
into the arms of his seconds w h o helped ,

him to the floor and supported hi down

the a i s l e into the crowd J oe re m ained
.

where he had fallen H is seconds car ri ed '

him into his corner and place d him on

 THE G AME

the stool M en began climbing into the

.

ring curious to see but were roughly

, ,

shoved out by the p olicemen who were

,

already there .

Genevieve looked on from her peep

h ole
. She w as not greatly perturbed .

H er lover had been knocked out I n so .

far as disappointment was his she shared

,

it with him ; but that w a s all She even

.

felt glad in a way The Game h a d played

.

him false and he w a s more surely hers

, .

She had heard of knockouts from him I t .

 THE G AME 1
73

often took men some time to recover from

the e ffects It was not till she heard the
.

seconds asking for the doctor that she

felt really worried.

They passed his limp body through the

ropes to the stage and it disappeared b e
,

yond the limits of her peep hole Then -

.

the door of her dressing-room w a s thrust

open and a number of men came in .

They were carryin g Joe H e was laid

.

down on the dusty floor his head resting

,

on the knee of o ne of the seconds No .

one seemed surprised by her presence .

She came over and knelt beside him .

H is eyes were closed his lips slightly

,

parted. H is wet hair w as plastered iii

straight l ocks about his face She lifted
.

one of his hands I t w a s very heavy and

.
,

the lifelessness of it shocked her She .

l ooke d suddenl y at th e faces o f the seconds

1
74 THE G AME
and of the men about her They seemed .

frightened all save one and he was curs

, ,

ing m a low voice horribly She looked

, , .

up and saw Silverstein standing beside

her H e too s eemed frightened
.
, ,
He .

rested a kindly hand on her shoulder ,

tightening the fi n gers with a s y mpathetic

pressure .

This sympathy frightened her She .

began to feel dazed There w a s a bustle as

.

somebody entered the room The person .

“
came forward proclaiming irritably : Get
,

out ! Get out ! Y ou ve got to clear the ’

room !
A number of men silently obeyed .

m
Who are y o u ? he abrup tly demanded
“
of Gene v ieve A girl as I alive
.
,
’

“ ”
That s all right she s his girl spoke
’

,
’

up a youn g fell o w she recognized as her

guide .
 T HE G AME 1
75
”
A nd you ? the other man blurted ex

m
plosively at Silverstei n.

“ ”
I
’
Vit her he answered tru culentl y
, .

She works for him explained the

,

“ ”
young fellow . I t s all right I tell y o u
’

, .

The newcomer g runted and kne l t down .

1
76 T HE G AME
He passed a hand over the damp head ,

grunted again and arose to his feet

,
.

This is no case for me he said , .

Send for the ambulance .

Then the thing became a dream to

Genevieve M aybe she had fainted she did
.
,

not know but for what other reason should

,

Silverstein have his arm around her support

ing her ? A ll the faces seemed blurred and
unreal Fragments of a discussion came to
.

her ears The youn g fellow w h o had been

.

her guide was saying something ab out

“
You v il l get your name in der
'

reporters .

”
papers she could hear Silverstein saying to
,

her as from a great distance ; and she knew

,

she was shaking her head in refusal .

There was an eruption of new faces ,

an d she saw Joe carried out on a canvas

stretcher Silverstei n was buttoning the
.

l ong overcoat and drawing the collar about

 THE G AME

her face She felt the night

.

air on her cheek and ,

looking up saw the

clear cold stars She
,
.

j ammed into a seat .

Silverstein was beside

her Joe was there
.
,

too still on his

,

s t r e t c h e r with ,

blankets over his

naked body ; and there
man in a blue uniform w h o spoke kindly
to her though she did not know what he
,

said H orses hoofs were clattering and she

.
’

was lurching somewhere through the night .

Next light and voices and a smell of

, ,

iodoform This must be the receiving hos

.

pital she thought this the operating table

, , ,

those the doctors They were examining .

Joe O ne of them a dark -e y ed dark

.
, ,

M
1
78 T HE G AME
bearded foreign looking m an rose up from
,
-
,

bending over the table .

“
Never saw anything like it he was ,

saying to another man The whole back .

of the skull .
!

H er lips were hot and dry and there ,

w a s an intolerable ache in her throat But .

w h y didn t she cry ? She ought to cry ;

’

she felt it incumbent upon her There was .

Lottie ( th ere had been another change in

the dream ! across the little narrow cot
,

from her and she w a s crying Somebody

,
.

w a s saying something about the coma of

death I t w a s not the foreign looking

.
-

doctor but somebody else I t did not

, .

matter w h o it w a s What time w a s it ? A s

.

if in answer she saw the faint white light

,

of dawn on the windows .

“
I was going to be married to day -
,

she said to Lottie

,
.
 T HE G AM E 1
79

A nd from across the cot his sister wailed ,

”
Don t don t ' and covering her face
’

,
’

, ,

sobbed afresh .

This then was the end of it all —o f

, ,

the carpets and furniture and the little

, ,

rented house ; of the meetings and walking

out the thrilling nights of starshine the
, ,

deliciousness of surrender the loving and ,

the being loved She was stunned by the

.

awful facts of this Game she did not under

stand the grip it laid on men s souls its ’

irony and faithlessness its risks and haz

,

ards and fi erce insurgences of the blood ,

making woman pitiful not the be all and

,
-

end-all of man but his toy and his pastime ;

,

to woman his mothering and care taking -

,

his moods and his moments but to the ,

Game his days and nights of striving the ,

tribute of his head and hand his most ,

patient toil and wildest cfi ort all the strain

'

,
1 80 THE G AME
and the stress of his being — to the Game ,

h is heart s desire
’
.

Silverstein was helping her to her feet

.

She obeyed blindly the daze of the dream

,

still on her H is hand

.

grasped her arm and he

w a s turning her toward

the door .

Oh w h y don t you ki ss him ?

,
’

Lottie cried out her dark eyes mournful

,

and passionate.
 THE G AME 1 81

Genevieve stooped obediently over the

quiet clay and pressed her lips to the lips
yet warm The door opened and she
.

passed into another room There stood .

M rs Silverstein with angry eyes that

.
,

snapped v indictivel y at sight of her boy s ’

cl othes.

Silverstein looked beseechingly at his

spouse but she burst forth savagely :
,

“
V ot did I tell you eh ? V ot did I tell
,

you ? Y ou v o o d haf a bruiser for your

steady ! A n now your name Vill be in al l
’

’
der papers ! A t a prize fi gh t Vit boy s
clothes o n ! Y ou liddle strumpet ! Y ou
hussy ! Y o u
‘

But a fl o o d of tears welled into her eyes

a n d voice and with her fat arms outstretched
, ,

ungainly l u dicro u s holy with motherhood

, l ,

she tottered over to the quiet gir l and folded

her to her breast She m uttered gasping
.
,
1 82 THE G AME
inarticulate love words rocking slowly to
-
,

and fro the while and patting Genevieve s

,
’

shoulder with her ponderous hand .

 JAC! LON! ON By
A u thor f
o
“
T fi e Ca ll j
a il u Wi l d
” “
Th e Fa i th o
f M eta
”
,
“ ”
TIM C/z ild ren of til e Frost etc , .

I LLUSTRATE! BY W J AYLWAR!

m
. .

Cl oth la o

O th er fi ction md id d l l i see s ec e y os n g in i sa v or a n d
Thi p qu a ncy .

m
t br t t i i m m m
s ort y su e rl y tv i
h as th e pu re S e en s on anr i g th d v t r gl
n , e a en u ou s a o

th e v er e a e s o c s l ’
Tis su re . y th t r y f th
e s o ki g f o e a n o a a

dm
th e s cu l t rbi
p o ti r
e ng Ca p a n La s en , a n d th l y th l v i g w ll
e c a , e ea s e- o n , e

to-do h a f- l dr ow n e r a n, to a l l a ppea a n c h i h l pl
es pr y s
”
C i ti
e es s e . r c

d ri
mm li t r r y w r l d b vi
m
“ a k
c J L on on is o n e of th e s u rp ses of th e e a o , a n

w i th i
mi mt v li t t b
n th e t
s h o r spa ce of five y ea rs l d h i lf
p a ce g th f se a on e ore os

of A H is t b k Th C ll f th W i l d i
m
‘ ’
er ca n no e s s. recen oo , e a o e ,

o n e of th e

l
p a ce in th e mi os s ou gh

ra nks of A
oo ks o

er ca n no e s s
f th d y e d h t bl i h d f h i
a

v l i t th t i q t i d
an
” a s un
a s es a

!
u es

etroit
s

on e
e

Trzbz
.

'
or

m e.

m
ll Wi l d w th e reig i g t io i l tt r
“ ‘ Th e Ca of th e l as
’
as n n s en sa n n e e s

y ea r, a n d h is r r t b ook i l g i d v
o e ecen f it p d c s ea u es n a a n ce o s re e es s o

in fi bre, in su b t let y of i igh t i g ph i c d v ig r

ns tr k
,
”
n ra an o ou s s o e .

Tl ze Repu bl ic, B oston .

Th e Sea - W ol f Ja ck Lon don s l a t es t n ov el ofa d v en tu re

,
’ ’
is , on e th a

v r y d w i t h g d d bl d i h i i
m ll i l i t d l igh t
e e rea er oo re oo n s v e ns wi ha w h e

Th r i e e f b l i g f th tr igg r h r
s no u n o e e e e, n o

m
n er ou s v and u n certa i

m
igh t i g l g th b rr l b t th q i k d i i v e ai a nd th e b ll s-
’
s n a on e a e u e u c , ec s u ey
,
”—
v ry t i M l d E p Nw Y k
'

m
e e e an x ress, e or

m
. az .

P r i t b f ll f t h t v i v id l i f i
w h ch th e ta es of th l '

o ses o e u o a rea s or

w it t d - B kly E gl
”
r er are n o e . roo n a e.

TH E MA CM I L L A N CO M P A NY
6 4 a 6 6 FIFTH AV ENUE , NEW Y OR!
THE CA L L O F THE WIL !
B y JAC! LON! ON

mC
Au thor o f The Children o f the Fros t , etc .

W i th I ll tr ti us a ons C l r by P H
in o o IL IP R Go o n w
. a nd HARLES
L N GSTO N B UL L

m
IV I
! eco a e r t d by CH A RLES E ! W A R! H o op a n
Cl oth
d th fi m f it
iz o

“
A t l th t i lit r t r
a e a h s ity f i pl e a u e t e un o ts an a n e r n ess o s exe cu
i lly r m rk bl t ry th t gri p h r d r d ly It i i
i m
to n a re q e ua e a a e a s o a s t e ea e ee s a rt,
i l it r t r It t d p rt f p rt with m h ki 1 m h
—N w Y k M d d E p
.

s e a u e. s an s a a ar a a so uc s so uc re a
son a bl m h
e n e ss , so g l gi uc co nv n c
,

o
”
c. e or a an
,

x ress.

j k L d
ac i on f h v ry f on y g r writ r h
s on e o m ki g i b l t e e ew ou n e e s w o a re a n env a
r
e co rd f th m lv
s or T h l it r ry q
e se li ty d viri l tr gth f h i t i
es . e e a ua an e s en o s s o r es
i r
nc eas e f h pr t l t h i with t r iv l
or t e H l t tv l m
e s en a t ea s e s ou a a is a es o u
i hi b t i h pi t r q d i m gi tiv q lity f h b r t ry t ll r
.

s s es n t e c u es ue an a na e ua o t e o n s o -e e
Th b k i ri f r m rk bl p i t r b v ll it i p i t r fd
.

e oo s a se es o b e a a e c u es uta o e a s a c u e o o
li f th t
e a i w in d rf l im gi tiv q lity t d q it l
ts on e u p na e ua s an e a on e o s se sse s a r

Y k Cm m
a s u
o rigi lity d rt fviril p try
na an a so t g th r m t pti l b k
l— o e oe a o e e a os e x ce on a oo .
!

N i l Ad ti ew or o er c a v er ser .
“
A b ig t ry i s ob r E gli h d with th r gh i h
n so e tr ti n s an o ou a rt n t e co n s uc on
d rf lly p rf t b it fw rk b k th t W i ll b h r d f Th d g d
,

won e u e ec o o a oo a e ea o e o a v en
iti g y m pl it l d b d M L d w rk m
.

’ ’
lu res a re a s e xc n as a n a n s ex o s c ou e, a n r on on s o an
hip i wh ll y ti fyi g
.

Th N Y kS
!
s s o sa s n . e ew or u n.

Th t ry i
e s o h t wi ll tir h bl d f v ry l v r f lif i i l t r l
s one t a st e oo o e e o e o a e n ts c oses e a
ti on to n a u t r Wh v r l v h p e dv t r f i
oe e k wi ll fio es t e o e n o r a en u e or ts o wn sa e n
Th C ll f h Wi l d m tf i i gb k
.

!
l B kly E g l
‘
e a o t e a os a sc na t n oo . e roo n a e.

Ev h m t l i tl
en t e r d r W i ll b tirr d b y h viril f r f h t ry h
os s es s ea e e s e t e e o ce o t e s o t
t g w pi g tr k with whi h h pi t r f h r h r wil d d h h f
s ro n s ee n s o es c t e c u es o t e no t e n s an t e
,

hri
t e e n
,

p i t d b y h rr t r d h i ight gi v i t h t e na l f h p rim t e t e so u t e

P l m
a re a n e a o an ns en n o o
hv e n i tr na u M r th e th t it i f h v ry b t t ri f h y r
o e an
,

a s o ne o t e e es s o es o t e ea
th t wi ll b f rg t Cl v l d
.
,

l l
!
an d on e a no t !e o o ten . e u ea er , e e an .

“
A m v ll ly i t r ti g t y
ar e
’
ou s t ry h t m t mm d i t r t
n e es n s or a s o t a us co an n e es an
dmir i a t o n. L d h hi v d tri mph i thi t ry i h f ll t n t e

g th t gl w with pl d i d tr th L md l T
a on on as a c e e a u n s s o u es sen s
o f h w rd
t e oIt i writt i m t rly f hi Th r s wh—l p g th t h i
en n as e as on . e e a re o e a es a t r
lik p try wh l p
.

”
e oe , o e a ssa es a o s en u . o w e u n es.

I h fi
n t e p r gr ph f thi p rb t ry h r d r i t r t irr i tibly
rst a a a s o s su e s o t e ea e
'
s n e es is es s
r d d tt ti i h l d h i d h d ; h r i t m t h
a o u se an a en on s e enc a ne to t e en e e s e xci e en to st
h bl
t e d h r i pi t r q l r tr p rt h r d r prim itiv
oo e e s c u es u e co o to ans o t e ea e to e scen es .
d h r i ll f l i t r ry w rk m hip d rvi g f r rv d p r i
,
”
an e e s e xce en ce o e a o a ns e se n o u n e se e a se .
Tb P P hi l d lphi e ress , a e a.

Ii i fh i f r m r t ri
n o on e o f l if h s h giv pr mi f h pl di d
o e s o es o e as e en o se o t e S en
an d igi l g i h h d i pl y d i Th C ll f h W i ld
or na en u s e Gr t b k
as s a e n e a o t e
’
ea oo s
i mpl t h m ity w r h d p y fthi t l A g t d r
.

are h t e S es u an a ns e s t e ee cr o s a e. rea un e
cu rr t i rri d b l w h rf f h t ry f r ld h w rl d h y
en s ca e e o t e su a ce o t e s o a o ce o as t e o t e cr 0
g r w rl d
, ,

l
!
h y
t e oun e o . a .

THE MACMILLAN CO MP A N Y
6 4- 6 6 FI FTH A V ENUE NEW YOR! ,
 AN! O THER S TO RIES

B y JAC! LON! ON

Cl oth lz m o

“
Th ese
f hi m
t ri h l p t
”
s o

L it
fi
es th r p t ti whi h th th r p
e o con rm e e u a on c e au o
’
s en

w on or y ! ig t
. era r es .

M L d r. on t t ry-t ll r wh r m i f t it l f m r tr
’
on s a r as a s o e e no e e an es s se o e s o

th an i th
n wi ft dr m ti l
e s f hi
, t ri a Th r i
a h it
c c ose o s s o es . e e s no es a nc

u n ce rt i t y f t h Fr m th t rt th t y m v tr i ght t th i
a n o ou c . o e s a e s or o es s a o e n

t bl l i C i j
”
a e con c u s on . l ou r er- ou r n a .

I t i i th N rth l d th t
s n e ! l d ik
o ! i p li g i
an t hi b t a ou r on e n s a s es ,

m
th t ri gri p th im gi ti with wi r d tr gth Th y p
ese s o es e a na on za s en . e ossess

l it r ry q l ity d tr g
e a ua f d r m ti v l
an s on m rk d i thi
se nse o a a c a u es so a e n s re
”—
a bl th r B t H l d
e au o . os on era .

F ll f vi g r
u o d th r bb i g with i t r t th
o an ll ti f rm
o nt n e es , e co ec on o s a no

con tri b ti t th g t mb r f h rt t ri whi h g iv i mp r

u on o e rea nu e o s o s o es c e es
”—
gl imp f r l lif i v ri p rt f th w w rld B é1y L fi
ses o ea e n a ous a s o e ne o . roo, n
’

z .

ac
Th y h v
J k L d
fi t-h d h i
e

on
l l th t fr h vit l ity th t h
a

on ,

fw r d ”
e a

th t fi t h d b rv ti f th w y f
Cl
a
a

d H
m t
rs - a n
es r v l ti f
d to
a

se a
a

on
as co

o e

m
e

m a
o u s as a

s o en , an
e e a

,
on

oo,

g R ld
'

rs an c o ce o o s. uca o ecor - e .

THE M ACM ILLAN CO MP A N Y

6 4-6 6 Fl Fl H A V ENUE, NEW YOR!
’ ‘
 A B YS S
B y JAC! LON! ON

With m ill an y u st at o nsr i m fr o ph otographs

Cl oth 12 m o n et

w ll th t thi k i g m h l d k w th f t b t th h rr r b g i
Mr d b k i p w rf l p r t ti f r p ll t th m b t it
L on ’
a e en e e,

m
. on s oo s a o e u esen a on o e u
5 e a n n en s ou no e ac s a ou ese o o s un e

md fi lth l d d tf i g — th t th y t t w rk t h g
’
n d an co yan su y er n a e a se o o o c an e a s s
”—
e th t w rk h i iq ity N / ll N w
a o s su c an n u . as wz
'

e e s.

O f th m t w
ne o d rf l b k th t y h v y r l i t
e os f th
on e u oo s a ou a e on ou s
’
on e o e

Th m r I r d it th m r I m
,

ea d i g b k ll r i th
n oo se try writ i l tt r t th p b l i h r f M
e s n e co u n es n a e e o e u s e s o r

m
.

ac k L d on P pl f th A by
on s
’ ‘
eo e o e ss .
’ ‘
e o e ea e o e a

p d with it d p i i g ht i
ress e w rl d th t i l itt l k w I p t
s ee ns n a o a s e no n.
’
n a os

cr ipt th d l r dd e I t p l t ight t i ll ft r
ea e a r d i g thi b k
s:
‘
sa u as n a e o n e, ea n s oo
or th d ti m
e s e co n C l d Sp i g G tt e.
’
o or a o r n s aze e.

“
M J k L d r. aci r i g l r l i m y fi l d H i l t t w rk
on on s ea n n au e s n an e s . s a es o

P eo pl f th A by
e o l y d d t r p t ti l r dy d rv dl y hig h
e ss,
’
ca n on a o a e u a on a ea ese e ‘

t l t hi
re a es p ri d ri g th mm r f 9 wh h w t d w
s ex e en c es u n e su e o 1 0 2, en e en
‘
o n
t th
n o d rw rld f L d t t dy th l i f f th m i r b l d i
e un e o o on on
’
o s u e e o e se a e en z en s o

h t I fr
a Thi l i f h
n e no. b p i t r d m y ti m b f r mpl t ly
s e as een c u e an es e o e, co a cen

n d th i gl y by P r f r W l t r A Wy k ff l rid l y by M St d i tifi
soo n o esso a e . c o , u r. ea , s c en
a ll y by M ”Ch rl B th B t M L d l h m d it r l d
r . a es oo . u r. on on a on e as a e ea an
r tt
es en Tb I d p d t
o us . e n e en en .

“‘
P pl f th Aby
eo e o t b riti i d ; it i r l i ti p rtr y l
e ss
’
ca n n o e c c se s a ea s c o a a o
i
er o u s tr th Writt with th f i ti f t ry it i w rth y th i t r t
u s. n e es

m
en e a sc n a on o a s o , s o e
f y an ri r d r I t i il l tr t d fr m p h t gr p h f th p pl m g
se ou s ea e . s us a e o o o a s o e eo e a on
h oh l iv d e d wh m h e t d i d i th ir h t ”th ir h m d w rk
an o e s u e n e a u n s, e o es a n o

h p th t h m ight d t rm i th d rift f th ir l iv
o s, a e T d C
e e ty ne e o e es . ow n a n ou n r .

It t k tr g g i p ”th r d r i th fi t f w p g d h ld it wit h
d —
a es a s on r on e ea e n e rs e a es a n o s
i
gh t i g l t h t th
en n c u c P l i ! l Cl l d
o e en . a n ea er, ev e a n .

THE M ACM ILLAN CO MP A N Y

6 4-6 6 FI FTH AV ENUE NEW YOR! ,
 Cl oth xz m o n et

CONTENTS
T H E CL A SS STRUGGLE
T HE T RA MP
T H E SCA B
T 1 1 1: ! UESTIO N 0 1? T H E MA ! IMUM : A Rsv nsw

m
W NEW LAW
m
A NT E! : A OF ! EV ELO P MENT

H ow I B ECA ME A So c sr

md b th r gh l y i t r ti g d d
Mr . L on on s
’
o ok is o ou n e es n , an Mr . Lo n on s
’
po i
vie wi s, a s ay be su rm i d v ry d iff r t fr m th t
se , e e en o a of th e l t th
c ose ee

Sp ri ngfi el d Rep u bl i ca n .

4
H is c eal r and i i iv thi k i g rr t tt ti
nc s e n m yp i t
n a es s a en on on an o n s c

con vi ti —
c on and on th wh l ill m i t t bj t Cki g R
e i
o e
”
u n a es s su ec . ca o e

b k i w rth th ghtf l
Th e oo i d r ti
s o C g g tioul t u con s e a on .
” on re a ona
’

zs .

Th t t m t f thi b k
e s a e b r d b ld th st ry f th
en s o s oo a re a s a e an o as e o o e

m
W lf
o ,d pr
’
t th
an i l i t d l b r r i d f th
e se n m i it
e soc a s s
’
an a o e s
’
s e o e e co n o c s u

with vig r l r d i mp r iv Tb W t h
”
o , c ea ness, a n ess en ess. e a c a n.

THE M ACM ILLA N CO MP A N Y

6 4-6 6 FI FTH A V ENUE NEW YOR! ,
 HE ! EMP TO N WACE L ETTERS
—

B y J C! A LON! ON a nd A NNA S TRUNS ! Y

Cl oth 12 m o

m
m
m b I
“
I
m h i mpr
a uc esse d b y th b
t rt i i g th ght e o ok ; it is an en e a n n ,
ou

o p ll i g
e kn oo r pri d if it b m
. s h ld t b
ou l i thno e su se eca e a c a ss c on e

u bj t f l v
ec o
” -
E W N M
o e.H M W t r l ig h St t
! I I l d NY A R! A , es e e , a en s an , . .

Thi i q l ittl v l m i g th f tri b ti t th y r

m
m
’
s un ue e o u e s a on e ew con u ons o e ea s

c ti onth t d rv ri
a i d r ti
ese Th C
e se i l Ad
ou s cons ti e a on. e o erc a v er ser.

THE CHIL! REN O F THE FRO S T

B y JAC! LON! ON

Au thor f
o The S on f
o the Wolf ,
”
The God of his
Fa thers, etc.

With Ill u strat ons i by RAP HAEL M REAY

m
.

Cl oth Ia o

“ ld with m thi g f th t m vig r

To so e d h
n t m li
o a sa e o ou s a n on es an n ess a n

i d iff r
m
with whi h M ! i pl i g m k b ggi g y t d ir t d f ili
r. es u n e n e ec an un a n
”—
n e ence c n a

app l t th ymp th y fh i r d r R h d ! i p t h
ea o e s a o s ea e .
'

zc on s a c .

M L d i gr wi g l it r ry f r H i t b r k d m g th
m
1 on on s a o n e a o ce. e s o e ec one a on
”—
.

y g writ r if t th tr g t
m
t g t f
ron es o our ou n ! R p bl i
e s, no e s on es . e /er e u ca n .

“
S p w rf ll y writt
o o e d u t t lly d i ff r t fr m th gr t
en, an so o a e en o e ea ass 0
”
books . Tol edo ! a ily B l a de .

THE M ACM ILLAN CO MP A N Y

6 4 -6 6 FI FTH AV ENUE NEW YOR! ,