Gambling without stakes is an insipid amusement, and Corliss
discovered, likewise, that the warm blood which rises from hygienic
gymnasium work is something quite different from that which pounds
hotly along when thew matches thew and flesh impacts on flesh and the
stake is life and limb. As he dragged himself to his feet by means of
the bar-rail, he saw a man in a squirrel-skin parka lift a beer-mug to
hurl at Trethaway, a couple of paces off. And the fingers, which were
more used to test-tubes and water colors, doubled into a hard fist
which smote the mug-thrower cleanly on the point of the jaw. The man
merely dropped the glass and himself on the floor. Vance was dazed for
the moment, then he realized that he had knocked the man
unconscious,--the first in his life,--and a pang of delight thrilled
through him.
Colonel Trethaway thanked him with a look, and shouted, "Get on the
outside! Work to the door, Corliss! Work to the door!"
Quite a struggle took place before the storm-doors could be thrown
open; but the colonel, still attached to the three-legged stool,
effectually dissipated the opposition, and the Opera House disgorged
its turbulent contents into the street. This accomplished, hostilities
ceased, after the manner of such fights, and the crowd scattered. The
two policemen went back to keep order, accompanied by the rest of the
allies, while Corliss and the colonel, followed by the Wolf-Skin Cap
and Del Bishop, proceeded up the street.
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