infuriated horse-dealer, "since I caught ye cheatin' at Independence.
You've been tryin' ter work it off ever since we left th' levee. I
reckon this belongs to you!"

He stepped in quickly and drove his right fist into Schoolcraft's mouth,
avoiding the flailing blows. "If ye'll stand up ter it an' make it a
fight," he jeered, "I'll be much obliged to ye, fer I've promised my
friend not ter keep him from his dinner." Again he stepped in and struck
the bleeding lips. He boxed correctly according to the times, except
that he used his feet to good advantage. His education at an eastern
university had been well rounded and he never allowed himself to get out
of condition.

Schoolcraft, stung to fury, leaped forward to grapple, hoping to make it
a rough-and-tumble affair, at which style of fighting he had but few
equals. Instead of his adversary stepping to one side, he now stood
solidly planted in one spot, his left foot a little advanced, and drove
in a series of straight-arm blows that sent the horse-dealer staggering
back. The younger man pressed his advantage, moving forward with
unswerving determination, his straight punches invariably beating the
ill-timed and terrific swings of his bleeding opponent, who showed a
vitality and an ability to take punishment not unusual among the men of
his breed. The horse-dealer knew that if the fight remained an open
affair he would not last long, and he got command over his rage and
began to use his head.

Suddenly he dropped to hands and knees under a right-hand blow that was
a little short of hurting him, and sprang up under his enemy's guard,
and brought exultant ejaculations from his little group of friends. But
for the warning conveyed to Tom by the knowledge that he barely had
touched the horse-dealer's jaw with that blow, and could not have
knocked him down, the trick might have worked; and as it was it
succeeded in bringing the two men to close grips. Schoolcraft's right
arm slid around his enemy's waist and hugged him close, while the left
slipped up between them until the hand went under the younger man's chin
and began to push it up and back. It was the horse-dealer's favorite and
most deadly trick and he exulted as he arched his back and threw his
full strength into the task. Never had it failed to win, for the victim
of that hold must either quit or have his neck broken; and the choice
did not rest with the victim.

The muscles of Tom's neck stood out as though they