Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1936, Page 87

| September 27, 1936 “He is not,” Phyllis said. “’Even if he were so silly | wouldn't let him."” . “That's very interesting,”” Perry Phelps said. ‘‘I would be greatly enter- tained to know just how you are going to stop me.” Phyllislooked momentarily abashed. “Don’t be a cock-eyed fool,” Jimmy Gresham said. *““The more I consider the idea,” said Perry, ‘‘the more the idea pleases me.” “Oh, Perry!" said Phyllis. “‘Don’t be a sap!” “I don't believe he’ll get a chance to hit Burke,” Jimmy Gresham said. “He can’t walk into the ring this afternoon and bop him. His handler would stop any man who tried that.” “I have a simple plan,” said Perry. “I know how to do it.” He realized now that he was going to have to hit Burke. His boast had ceased to be a ~ joke. He had ridden it too hard. He wasn’t hungry. But he ate a good lunch. He couldn’t let the others see how scared he was. Besides, he knew it might be the last meal he would ever eat. Burke had killed a man in the ring, a tougher man than Perry. They started toward Burke’s train- ing camp after lunch. They walked « slowly. Phyllis close beside Perry. “Please Perry,” she said. ‘‘Nobody wants you to do it.” *I am merely following your excel- lent advice,” Perry said. “‘On this occasion I am doing what I want to do and not what other people want me to do.” Phyllis gave him a stricken look. They reached the gates of Burke’s training camp and bought tickets and went in. There were rough tiers of planks on which to sit. The place was scarcely half full; it was still half an hour before Burke was due in the ring. Perry resolutely led the little party down the aisle which » Burke always used when he came out of the cottage with his handlers and his sparring partners at three o’clock. lle gut all the others to take their ’ THIS WEEK He Hit the Prizefighter Continved from poge nine seats first so he could sit on the aisle. Phyllis sat beside Perry Phelps. She put her hand on his arm and pressed it gently but said nothing. Perry looked out across the ring at the trees beyond. It was one of those days that come when summer is at the full, too hot there in the sun if it had not been for a tiny breeze, cool and sweet. The stands were full when Burke and his followers came down the aisle and climbed into the ring. Izzy Mandelbaum stood in the middle of the ring and raised his right hand high. ‘“Ladies and gentlemen,” he bawled. “I have an extraordinary announce- ment to make. Gunner Burke is fit and ready to go. Some of the sports writers have got the erroneous notion that he ain’t what he used to be. Some of the fans have been trying to tell you he has lost his punch. ‘“‘Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to show you today where these guys get off. We are going to take off the wraps and turn the big boy loose. For this one occasion we are going to let you see what he is like. After today you will have to wait for the fight. But today you are going to get your money’s worth twice, three and four times over. ‘“‘Ladies and gentlemen, the big boy is like a hungry lion. He wants raw meat. And ladies and gentlemen he is going to get it.” I2zy Mandelbaum turned to Burke. “Get up there and take a bow.” Burke got up and bowed. ‘“Ladies and gentlemen — Gunner Burke,” Izzy Mandelbaum yelled. “Next heavyweight champion of the world —who will now box two rounds with each of three sparring partners — gix rounds in all.” Burke came out wearing the head guard that protected him from cuts in training. His hody was deeply tanned by hours in the sun. He hadn’t shaved for several days. His first sparring partner was a colored man — a tall, lean, supple man with a good straight left. Burke kept plowing in, taking the straight left again and again, crowding his man. Suddenly the Negro clinched. As Izzy Mandelbaum broke them, Burke hooked his right to the body twice, his gloved fist striking with a deep thunk. Perry saw the Negro wince but he did not go down. He danced away, his chin, tucked behind his shoulder, his left hand high, his right protecting his body. The bell rang. Burke rushed forward when he came up for the second round. The lithe colored boy caught him twice on the side of the head with that long left hand and then Burke was in close, solid and powerful. His right fist struck from a distance of only a few inches, and thudded into the colored man’s belly. The colored man doubled up in agony, his hands clasped to his mid-section, and sank slowly to the canvas. He lay there without trying to get up, his long, lean, brown legs twitching convulsively, while the crowd roared its delight. Burke went back to his corner. Two of Burke's seconds helped drag the colored boy out of the ring. They threw a bucket of water over his head. He came to, his eyes rolling like those of a stricken doe. They led him up the aisle, past Perry Phelps, and another sparring partner took his place in the ring. The second man was broader than Burke, with a hairy chest. His nose had been flattened so many times it had three separate curves in it. His eyebrows were a network of scars. He had tight curling cauliflower ears. Burke reversed his tactics. He began to use a straight left while his opponent bored in, as if anxious to get his great arms around Burke’s body. Burke popped him almost at will on his right ear or his right eye. But the hairy chested one merely shook his head and bored in. Burke staggered him toward the end of the round with a right to the cheek. Perry Phelps knew the punch would have put the tough man down if it had landed three inches lower. He was suddenly aware that his own fists were clenched. He was sweating. Burke had caught his husky spar- ring partner with a one-two. The man shot backwards half way across the ring and landed in a heap. Burke waited for him to get up. He couldn’t get up. They dragged him out, re- vived him and led him up the aisle. The third man was much lighter and faster than the others. He man- aged to keep away from Burke until the very last ten seconds of the second round. Then Burke caught him with a left flook and he went down while the crowd cheered. Burke did not wait for them to pick the man up. He tore off his headguard and started up the aisle. Perry Phelps timed it perfectly. He got up. He had his back turned as if he were saying something to somebody down the row of seats. Burke bumped into him hard. Perry Phelps whirled. ““You clumsy fool,” he roared and aimed a punch at Burke’s face with all his strength. Burke inclined his head automat- ically and Perry’s fist went whistling by his ‘ear. Perry was so astonished that for a fraction of a second he did not know what to do. For a fraction of a second his eyes glared into Burke’s at a distance of six inches. Then Perry swung again, and his fist landed with a satisfying thunk on Burke’s nose. Perry felt a sudden shock, as if he had been driving a car and hit a telephone pole. But he was still on his feet and unhurt. Burke had merely pushed him away. The next moment he was in the middle of a riot. The crowd pushed and shoved and yelled. But no one in that crowd nor all of them together could yell as loud as Izzy Mandelbaum. His face red, his hands waving, Izzy Mandelbaum yelled them down, stopped the riot, and led Burke away. . “Oh Perry!” Phyllis said, “Perry, let’s get out of here.” They walked down the aisle while the crowd scrambled to get a clear view of the man who had hit a prospective champion. Perry tried to look unconcerned, but it was hard not to swagger. “Perry,” Phyllis said, when they had got away from the crowd. ‘‘Perry — please forgive me.” *‘Forgive you for what?"’ “Everything!After all, you wouldn’t Hidden Treasure Continved from page thirteen was an ass. Phipps did not know a fish when he saw one. Lord Brom- borough’s face did not resemble that of a fish at all. It suggested something much fuller of screen possibilities, much more box-office than a fish. Brancepeth had seen Lord Brom- borough for what he was — Ferdi- nand, the Frog. He turned, to perceive his host in the act of hurling a cottage loaf. “Muriel!” he cried. “Hullo?”’ said the girl, who had joined her father at the window. “I love you, Muriel.” “Same here.” “But for the moment I must leave you.” “I would,” said Muriel. She glanced over her shoulder. “He’s gone to get the kedgeree.” “Will you wait for me, Muriel?” “To all eternity.” “It will not be necessary,” said Brancepeth. ‘“‘Call it six months or a year. By that time I shall have won fame and fortune.” He would have spoken further, but at this moment Lord Bromborough reappeared, posing the kedgeree. With a loving smile and a wave of the hand, Brancepeth leaped smartly to one side. Then, turning, he made his way down the drive, gazing raptly into a future of Rolls Royces, caviar and silk underclothing made to measure. The End have done it if I hadn’t been so nasty.” “‘Perhaps not.” “And I didn’t méan a word of it. It isn’t true that you let people step on you. You're just the opposite.” “Hmmmm,"’ Perry said. Phyllis looked up at him wistfully. “Oh, Perry,” she said, “I didn't mean any of the things I said. I didn’t even mean it when I said I didn’t want you to kiss me."” “What you said about my doing what other people wanted me to do isn’t true. There's just one person I've let step on me, and that’s you. I've let you step all over me. Hereafter it’s going to be different. Or else — ** “Oh, Perry!” Phyllis cried. *‘You know I didn’t! You know I couldn’t step on you.” ‘‘Hereafter,” Perry said, going to do what I want.” “‘Yes, Perry,”’ she said. Perry looked down at her. She was most appealing. ““You could have told me you didn’t mean the things you said last night before I hit Burke,” he said. “If you'd been nice at lunch instead of trying to make me ridiculous by telling every- body about our quarrel I never would have done anything so silly as to hit Burke.” “we're *‘But Perry, I had no idea — "' “Listen,” Perry Phelps interrupted. “You wanted me to hit Burke. You didn’t care if I got knocked out. You're just like all the rest. You ‘wanted to see it happen.” “‘Oh, Perry, I'm not like that. You know I'm not.” “But you could have stopped me and you didn’t.” “Oh, Perry, 1 was afraid for you. I asked Jane Evans — and I hated to, because I don’t like her and I couldn’t bear to ask a favor of her, but I did — I asked her to tell Izzy Mandelbaum what you were going todo and — ** ‘“Yes,” Perry said, ‘‘and what?"’ “‘She said she would, but she said it wasn't necessary. She said a prize- fighter couldn’t hit an amateur be- cause people would be so sore at him if he did. She said it happens all the time. But he can’t hit a man back no matter what the man does to him.” Perry looked down at her. He had been a fool, but somehow it was all right. He kissed her. - The End THAT PESKY BACKACHE | QUICK ! RUB ON “BEN-GAY"'— NO MORE STABBING BACK PAINS @At your nearest drug store you'll find quick relief from the misery of that lame, sore back. Just rubon Baume “"Ben-Gay” where it hurts. Feel that warm glow? Feel that pain being driven out? Yes, sir, you can rub pain away with Baume “Ben-Gay.” "Ben- Gay" is the priceless discovery of the famous Dr. Jules Bengué, of Paris. For your own sake, do not accept substitutes—get “Ben-Gay.” It has relieved the mus- cular aches and pains of countless millions. BAUME "BEN-GAY RUB PAIN AWAY WITH @ Feel dizzy, headachy ? This may bhe a sign that waste has backed up, and that the system needs clearing out. 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