_,
_Prescott, Arizona_:

DEAR SIR: I am glad to hear that there is considerable
interest taken in the forthcoming match. Boxing is a noble
art, and this coming contest will no doubt help to boom both
our clubs. There is a great interest taken here in the match,
and I warn you our man is getting himself in the very best
condition possible. He is nervous, of course, this being his
first appearance in an affair of this kind. He is a clerk in
a bank, who has lately been engaged by my friend Robinson,
and therefore does not get as much time for exercise as
perhaps would be wise, but Robinson is an enthusiastic sport,
as you know, and has arranged to let him get off several
hours each day. We look forward to a great contest, and I
certainly feel that the winner may fully consider himself the
Amateur Champion of the Territory. We shall take great
satisfaction in reserving the one hundred seats you ask for.
I think you will find all the money ready for you in the way
of bets that you will want. Our population is made up a great
deal, as you know, largely of miners and ranchers, and they
are inclined to bet recklessly. I cannot close without
congratulating the Prescott Athletic Club for the energy and
enterprise they have shown in this matter. May the best man
win!

Yours, etc.,
J. SMITH.

II.

There was a great crowd packed into the ring of the Phoenix Athletic
Association on the evening of the contest. Seats were at a premium, and
the fight had been the principal subject of conversation for days. The
two principals had met and been introduced to one another, just before
going to the scene of the contest. Both were dressed for the occasion,
and I tell you they were sights! The bank clerk had on a collar so high
that he could hardly turn his head, a high silk hat, long black
frock-coat, and an immense white rose in his buttonhole.

The Prescott drug clerk was still more gorgeous. Besides a buttonhole
bouquet and high collar, he sported an eye-glass, and smoked a cigarette
while in the presence of his opponent.

"'Ow's yer bloomin' 'ealth?" remarked the drug clerk. "Hi 'opes as 'ow
yer fit."

"Ah-h-h, go arn," answered the embryo financier, using only one side of
his mouth, "don't try ter jolly me, yer sage-br