"Greetings and salutations!" said he. "Sign
up this windbag for me. I'll fight him — ^winner
take all; and if I don't make him jump out of
the ring I won't ask for a cent,"

"Me — ^jump out of the ring!" screamed
Whitey. "He better look out I do"n't make him
jump out of the ring!"

"Gentlemen! Gentlemen!" said the match-
maker. "Don't start anything here. Shake it
up, boys ; but don't spill it. Save it for the fif-
teenth. Now about the purse "

"Any old way suits me," said Sammy.
"Winner take all!" suggested Whitey.
"One hundred dollars — ^winner take all," said
the matchmaker. "Is that satisfactory?"

"I'd fight him for nothing!" said Sammy.
' ' That 's what you '11 get ! " said Whitey.
"This is the real thing," reflected the match-
maker. "What a pity the reporters aren't here I
They could make quite a story out of this."

[133]



TAKING THE COUNT



Later in the day they did make quite a story
out of it under headlines proclaiming the sun-
dering of friendship's bonds and the dissolution
of a partnership. Professional jealousy was
mentioned as the contributing cause, which ex-
planation appealed to the sporting humorists
and they made merry with the topic. Whitey
was interviewed by a representative of a morn-
ing paper — a, great honor, which almost over-
whelmed him and made him nervous and volu-
ble.
* ' Say, print this, will you ? ' ' said he. * ' Put it
in the paper that I'm going to fight this Dugan
just to show hiTn up — see? Just to let the pub-
lic know he never was any good! Don't forget
that.
