THE STJJTDAT OREGOXIAX, POKTLAm 3fAT 1, I1T.
MY STSm
CHAPTER XXV.
'Pom & ha riccy A Fishier.
I LIVED around Billy relaney's place
la Oakland after beating Pete Ev
erett. Billy had one little cherry
tree In hie back yard, and I used to
climb Into it and eat the cherries.
Billy would come out and laugh at me
until ho nearly fell down. He said I
iooked Ttk an elephant sitting on a
rosebush.
Oakland waa a pretty aroffd place to
train. There are good hills to climb
jii.st out of town. When I wasn't
tramping: around I took a two-wheeled
cart and drove over the road to Red
wood Canyon and ehot squirrels with
a pistol or a .22 Wlnoheater. There
wasn't much else to hunt. When I
wanted, to work indoors I went to the
Reliance A. C The club had a jarood
building and a fine grymnasium. Billy
Acres, the old-timer, was boxinsr n
aetructor. There were a lot of big
men, around to work with now and
then, for the club had the best foot
baJl team on the Coast. Since that
time it has become a. regular profes
sional boxing club, but I always go
there for the last touch when 1 come
down from the mountains a day before
flghtinjr in San Francisco.
About this time there was just one
fighter left to the Pacific Coast to
rnret me. lie wa. Tom Sharkey.
Tom had a couple of years' start in
ilic game. "When t fought Long, Shar
key was a top-notoher. Tie came
it shore from the cruiser Philadelphia
In 1895 and knocked out Australian
Billy Smith in seven rounds. After
iirklnft' a soldier named Miller and
clra wing with Alex Grpggains, he
knocked Choynski out in eight rounds.
Shark y mas such a rough customer
t hat they put him against Champion
Jim Corbett, rx pectin q,- to see him cut
to pieces. TT rough-housed Corbett
lor four rounds, and everybody went
lazy over him. Then he foujrht Fitz-5-1
mmons, and Wya tt Karp ga ve him
t hp decision on a "foul."
Lt was about ihis time that T met
harkcy first. He went to Carson to
son tho Corbett-V' l xsl mmons fight. I
was sparring" with Corbett, of course,
and nobody knew me, while Sharkey
was one of the big guy p. The first
r iinc J saw Torn he amused me a
whole lot. He was walkin-g around
with his chest stuck out a couple o
feet. A reporter for one of the Frisco
papers was asking him what he
Imught of Corbett and Htzsimmons.
'I can lick ayther wan av tlifm." said
Siiarkfy. "Haven't 1 licked 'em both
.1 1 ready?"
I looked the sailor over and couldn't
ie!p thinking it ought not to be much
trouble to beat a little fellow like that.
It was more trouble, though, than I
'.hoiiKht, as I found out on two later
occasions. He had a lot of confidence
in the ring aid nothing could beat it
;ut of him. He surely was one game
tailor.
Sharkey was a natural fighter. He
didn't think about anything but fight
ing. When he first came ashore from
the. cruiser he used to fight in the ring
and then go down to the waterfront
with a lot of sailors and clean out
some sailors barroom, throwing every
body into the street. I guess Tom was
npvfT licked in a rough and tumble.
They tell a lot of stories about how
Sharkey trained. One day whl le he
was running on the road and just
pwwsing; a farmhouse a savage dog
rushed out behind Tom and jumped at
him. Tho sailor was carrying a heavy
Mick in his hand. He just caught a
glimpse of the dog from the corner of
his eye. and. twit how t breaking his s:rld
or so much as changing expression,
reached, around with, his- right, clouted
the dog on the head and knocked it cold.
Then he plugged along down the road
Mt the; same speed, not even turning to
take a. look at the dog lying in the ditch.
The only thing he was thinking about
was finishing that run.
Sharkey bad ambition, too. While he
was working on the road for our fight
n writer on one of the papers went
along on. a wheel. Sharkey didn't talk
much 1n those days. Once in a while
he'd say "yes" or "no." and that was
his limit.
This time Tom jogged along for two
or three miles without saying a -vord.
At last he turned his head and aked;
"Ton't smoke, do you?"
""Xo." said the reporter, hoping to
draw Tom out,
"Nay the r do I," said Sharker.
Three or four miles more passed
without a word from Tom. Then he
turned his head again.
"Don't drink, do you?"
"Never." said the reporler. looking
f or a beer sign.
Three or four miles more. Sharkey's
run was nearly fin ished. 1 Te . had a n-y-wered
questions with a grunt or a nod.
Hut he had one more thing hack in his
m i n d .
"Don't go ska tin around with no
kirt. do you?" lie paid in a low tone,
looking back to make sure he hadn't
shocked the newspaper man too much
with such a suggestion.
"Never. said the reporter. "Do you?"
T cb- not." said Tom. "and 1 never
Mil! till I'm champion of the world.
It whs very unkind of me. affer hear
ing this story, to give Tom two set
Ivcks in hi rhasf for the title.
There ar other stories on Tom. He
was a rough card. While he was train
ing at t he Seal Uoek Mouse on the
headi he used to box nd then run
down across the sand and jump into the
":r-&ties'xof was -
UCKED ni eX ROthnM AHI TuMPLfc
ocean for a swim. There was nearly
always a heavy surf and a bad under
tow there, but the sailor could awlm
like a seal and he never got Into trou
ble. The water was ice cold. Tom
would come out. grab one of his spar
ring partners and drag him in for a
joke, and then dash back to the quar
ters. It was cold work.
Once as Tom was running back to
the, gymnasium, half frozen: a photog
rapher topped him and asked if he
wouldn't put on a pair of gloves and
spar with one of the boys out in the
sunlight so that he could get some
snapshots of real action. Tom called
a sparring partner and told him to run
and get the gloves. They picked out a
smooth piece of ground back of the
house. Tom and his sparring partner
put up their hands and the photog
rapher set his camera.
"What do you want first ?" asked
Tom.
"Oh." said the photographer, "I want
to get the real thing. I want a snap
shot showing how you deliver a knock
out. Can't you pose for it and have
the other fellow go down so that I can
Ton' t ' To" Jv -T)sc
catch a picture of him while he's fall
ing?" "Sure," said Sharkey.
Then he posed his partner and asked
If the camera man was ready.
"All ready," said the photographer.
"Fall ay If you were knocked cold."
'He will." said Sharkey, suddenly
swinging his right. It was a genuine
knockout, and the sparring: partner hit
the ground so hard he nearly broke his
hip. Sharkey was willing to pose for
more pictures, but his training staff
declined.
When I was offered a fight with
Sharkey. Billy Delaney and I both felt
like, celebrating. Things were coming
my way and the championship didn't
look far off. As for Bill, he sat down
and said: "Jim, you can lick this sailor.
There's nothing to It." Billy wasn't
nruch on giving out tips, but he did tell
a. lot of his friends that I could beat
Sharkey. The fight was to be in Me
chanic' Pavilion, Mar . 19S.
HTAPTER XX VI.
Sharkey Gives )lc a Good Fight.
The night I fought Sharkey was more
exciting than n circus.
Tn the first plane the promote pot a
cheap contractor and had the blearihcra
Wf LW.
built up on the main floor of the Me
chanics' Pavilion in a great hurry. These
bleachers began to rise just back of the
boxes and the last rows were nearly as
high as the gallery, 20 feet above the
floor.
On the afternoon of the fight the press
box, which was hung from the gallery
by wooden supports, fell down of its own
weight. That box was supposed to hold
about "JO or 30 men. lt was hastily put
up again and braced a little better. About
S oclock, when the prejss men began to
arrive. Big Bill Xaughton. who weighs
about 300. climbed up on the stand. Just
as he reached his seat crash down
went one of the grand stands on the
main floor. The seats fell like rows of
blocks knocking each other over. Nobody
was hurt. That was a low section. Some
body told the reporters about their stand
falling down in the afternoon, and some
of them made a rush for the floor. Big
Bill kept his seat for a while, having
one end of the stand all to himself. But
Bob Edgren, another hefty sporting man,
joined him. "Keep away," yelled Big Bill,
"if we two get up here at once the
thing'll drop sure:" Bill -beat it for the
floor.
The preliminaries were on by this time.
While Stelzner and Baker were fight
ing another and higher section of seats
fell, carrying down about four or five
hundred people. The pavilion was packed
from doors to gallery. A few were hurt
more or less this time. A little after 9
o'clock a third section of seats went
down with a crash that shook the build
ing. I thought the roof had fallen in.
There were shrieks and groans, and all
over the place people struggled to get
out of the wreckage. Baker and Stelzner
slopped fighting until the referee ordered
them to go on to attract the attention
of the crowd and prevent a stampede.
All I had heard of this was from m v
drcssing room. The ambulance came
and carried the injured away to hos
pitals. Luckily, even when the highest
section fell nobobdy was killed. Those
who fell and were only bruised scrambled
for standing room and stayed to see the
fight.
When I came donn lo the ring, a few
minutes ahead of Sharkey, 1 saw the
most curious sight that ever "con
fronted a lighter. On all the immense
floor of the pavilion there were only
a couple of seat sections standing. All
the- rest had fallen flat. The crowd
had climbed on the wreckage for stand
ing room, and it looked as if the ring
was surrounded by low mounds cov
ered with- spectators. Everybody was
uneasy. The air was full of dust.
Well, a fighter gets used to taking
things as they come. 1 didn't waste
much time looking around. Sharkev
came into the ring ready to fight. He
had Spider Kelly and Tim McGrath
with hiin. Billy Delaney and De Witt
Van Court and my brother Jack were
in my corner. Alex Greggains was the
referee.
I looked over at Sharkey and he
grir.ned. He was as confident as a
gamecock. He looked like a sawed-off
Hercules. His skin was tanned by the
sun and wind and his muscles bulged
out all over in big lumps. He had an
chors tattooed on his arms and a big
ship in red and blue ink on his chest.
"Do you see that ship on Sharkey's
front," I asked Billy Delaney.
"Pure." said BUI.
"Well, keep your eye on it: I'm going
to sink it." I said.
We began fighting.
Without wnfti'g tn feel Tom out I
walked straight at him and he gave
ground. He didn't like my looks much,
1 guess, after the clever fellows he
had been fighting. But in a moment he
jumped at me with, a wild swing. It
was no trouble at all to push him. away
with my left and make him miss.
Sharkey, just out of the navy, al
ways had a big bunch of sailors In
the ringside seats to see him fight.
They paid their own way in and bet
their heads oft at any sort of odds. No
sailor ever thought the navy champion
could be beaten. There were at least
a hundred sailors from the Olympia
around the ring that night, and every
time Tom swung- at me they yelled like
Indians. When we came into a clinch
I'd look over Tom's shoulder at his
crowd and give them a wink.
rt was along in the fourth round. I
think, when I lanciod a good stiff loft In
the body that made Tom lose his head.
He closed in and began hitting in the
clinch, contrary to the rules we wer
fighting under. I pushed him away and
nailed him on the c-hin with mv left,
staggering him. Sharkey gave ground
and backed over toward his corner,
where all the sailors were. Then he de
liberately turned his head around to look
at them. One of the fellows outside the
ring told me afterward that Torn turned
and winked to show that something was
coming off.
He was a foxy sailor all right. His
scneme -was to draw me in To take a
punch while his head was turned and
then catch me with, a wallop on the jaw.
Luckily I suspected something, so when
Tom whirled back all of a sudden with
a. wild left swing, not even looking to see
If I was there, he missed me a foot.
There was steam enough in that punch
to have done damage !f lt had landed.
I had taken a good lead now and was
forcing the fighting round after round.
While, we were mixing there waa an
other loud crashing sound and we both
stepped back and dropped our hands
while we looked around. fp In the
gallery a section of temporary seats
had caved In and a couple of hundred
people slid down until they were
wedged against the rail. Luckily, that
was a strong rail, otherwise thejr would
ha-e poured over on the heads of the
crowd below. In a moment we went on
fighting. Just then down went another
section on the main floor.
Tn the seventh round "Sharkey got
vicious and rushed at me -as If he want
ed to throw me overboard. Two or
three times he jammed me against the
ropes.
"Next time he tries that show him
some of your strength." said Van
Court In my corner.
In the next round Tom came tearing
at me with his head down like a bull.
I reached out and caught him by both
shoulders. Then I spread my feet to
get a good hold on the floor and shook
him like a school teacher shaking a
boy. That was the biggest surprise
Sharkey ever had in his life. He was
used to outroughing everybody and
using his strength to beat men he
couldn't land on. 1 gave him a few
good shakes and then walked forward
slowly and pushing Tom half way
across the ring put his shoulder up
against the ropes, pinned him for a
moment, dropped my hands and stepped
back. Tom looked at me with the
funniest expression I ever saw, and for
a least a couple of rounds he was a
perfect gentleman. When he hit in a
clinch after that he apologized.
In the middle of the fight Tom got
the ducking habit and I timed him and
knocked him down with a right on the
Jaw. He was a tough fellow. He got
up with a. smile and ran at me swing
ing both fists for all he was worth.
But he was very wild. He landed a
few good clouts, but for the most part
I got there first. 1 began studying
Sharkey out. He was a mark for a
left hand. Tom had a habtt of swing
ing twice. He'd come in with his left
hand held back, swing it. and instantly
swing the right. If he missed you with
the left he had a chance to score with
the right. But I found that when he
pulled that left back it was easy to nail
him witli a left on the jaw. or shoot a
right across inside before he could
start his punch. Toward the end of
the fight T scored hard and often. At
times Tom was dizzy, but he came out
as strong as ever after each rest.
I tried hard to get him in the last
round, and I guess he tried hard, too,
for he got -in a couple of good swings.
At the finish Greggains gave me the
decision. Sharkey left the rirg look
ing pretty glum, but he vhadn't any
thing to say except that he'd fight me
again.
T gave hint the first chance at my
tHle when I became champion.
OH A PTES! XXVII.
Jfy Klrst Trip Kaal ind n Otsappolnt-
jnent.
I had cleaned up all the big 'heavy
weights in the West now and there war?
nothing to do but to go Bast and make a
cleanup there that would lead to a fight
with Fitzsimmons for the championship.
My hopes went high when 1 wa offered
my first chance in Xew York. The East
ern people wanted to see the man who
had beaten Peter Jackson and Tom
Sharkey. Tom OTtourke matched r
Tut
The ARoec
against two men for 10 rounds each, the
tights to take place at the benox A. C
ir New York city. .
The East seemed strange to me on this
first trip back since my boyhood days.
Even the streets1 and the trees and the
buildings were so different from ours In
California that, it seemed like going into
a foreign country. Even the people were
different. Today I have friends and ac
quaintances everywhere and can enjoy
a visit to Xew York, but the first time a
few days of it left me homesick for my
own Oalifornia mountains1.
As for Armstrong and OTonnel, the
men picked to fight me, I didn't worry
over them. Armstrong I knew only by
reputation. O'Donnell I had met in
San Francisco when he came to the
Coast with Madden and Ruhlin. O'Don
nell was as clever as Jim Corbett in a
gymnasium, but lie was an unlucky
big fellow. As soon as he stepped Into
a ring to fight he became so nervous
that he forgot his skill. I picked Arm
strong for my first man, thinking I'd
do the hardest before there was a
chance of getting tired.
I couldn't help admiring ihe looks of
big Bob when he stripped in the oppo
site corner on the night of August 5,
1897. He was like a great bronse
statue. Here at last I was going to
fight a man taller than myself, with a
greater reach, equal strength and
plenty of weight. Armstrong was
clever, I knew that, and he could hit.
He was a fine looking fighter, even
If he was black.
Armstrong was waiting when I
stepped into the ring with Billy De
laney. As soon as I reached my corner
he came across and held out his hand
with a wide smile that showed all of
his teeth. Billy Delaney whispered to
me that Armstrong corner, the south-
west, was considered unlucky becanee
of the number of losers that had occu
pied it.
There were many famous fighters
aronnd the rlngr that night. I remem
ber seeing Jim Corbett, John L. Sulli
van, Joe Goddard. Peter Slaher, Kid La
vigne. Sammy - Kelly. Tom Sharkey.
Mysterious BlUy Smith and a lot of
others. Bo Fltxsimmons wasn't there.
rRSTROMt3 K MOCK tt THE'
DRetA ooTbF vt fOR A
Few SEomds.
Being champion, he didn't care to look
at any dub heavyweights.
As soon as the bell rang T went right
at the big black man. After a few
light exchanges I landed a hard left on
his jaw and. rushing him back, swung
the left again. Armstrong ducked a lit
tle and the blow went high. As it
landed a sharp twinge of pain shot
along my arm. I had broken my left
thumb.
That was pretty tough luck in the
first round of a double-header.
I didn't let any one know my hand
was hurt, but went right on hitting
with it. If you ever punched anybody
with a broken thumb on your punching
hand you know how it feels. It isn't
any fun.
As I remember the fight, 1 forced
the pace from the start. The black
man was hard to get at, being on the
defensive. 1 didn't want to rush mat
ters too much, keeping the second fight
in mind, and along in the fifth or sixth
round Armstrong gave me a surprise.
I had hammered him with both hands,
paying no attention- to my broken
thumb, and in trying to get away he
dodged under the ropes. I punched at
him with my left, and lie ducked and
came back with a fierce left in the
stomach. That was a great punch. It
knocked the breath out of me for a
few seconds, but I soon went after
him harder than ever, and had him
bleeding from a cut over the eye. When
he saw that the body punch didn't
worry me he began to run away.
I figured when we came up for the
last round that I had the fight won
easily, but I wanted to knock Arm
strong out now that the end was so
near. He stood up to me for a mo
ment and I swung my left hard enough
to do the trick. But saw it coming
and in his hurry to get away he fell
on the floor. As he xgot up I went
after him, and landing "both hands on
his jaw, drove him back into his own
corner. Armstrong's seconds were yell
ing to him that the end of the round
was near and tho big black turned his
back to me and covered up like a
turtle. I was pounding away at his back
ribs to make him turn around, when" the
last bell rang.
Referee Charlie White gave me the
decision at once and I started fpr the
dressing room for the half-hour's rest.
Brady, in a ringside chair, called to me
and asked: "How are you, big fellow?"
I just held up my broken hand and
went along. Brady followed me out to
the dressing-room. My hand was so
badly swollen that the glove had to
be cut to get it ofT. Brady took one
look. Dr. Fivey of the club examined
the hand, too, and said that it would
be impossible for me to go on with
O'Donnell. I never could have put on
another glove that night.
It was announced from the ring that
on account of a broken hand Jeffries
would be unable to go with the second
bout. I could hear a sound like
the Roman mob growling behind the
scenes In a theater just before reach
in the stage. All of a sudden it
struck me that for .the first time
In my life I was being hooted and jeered
by the crowd. It was the worst jar
1 had ever had. I felt like going out
and fighting O'Donnell with one hand,
but what was the use? I felt sick and
sore and disgusted with the East. That
was the most homesick moment of my
life.
And to tell the truth, it was nothing
to what I got the next morning. As
soon as I had hopped out of bed and
dressed myself with tuy hand in a big
bandage, feeling pretty blue, they began
to hand me the papers. Whewl What
a roasting! It seemed that everbody
regarded me 'either as a quitter or a
clumsy second rater. Some of them even
said it was lucky for me I did break
my thumb, for Steve u Donnell would
have beaten my head off.
That day I went down to the Police
Gazette Office with Billy Delaney. Tn
the outer hall there was a bench for
visiting fighters to sit on while Ihey
were waiting to see the editors. Dubs
sat on the bench. Champions walked
right in. - I sat on the bench while Billy
saw Sam Austin and talked over the
fight with him. Jt was funny to be
left an alone' out there, with the office
boys looking me over and . everybody
walking right by. It made me feel like
a measly yellow dog without any
friends. That surely was a grouchy
day. and I didn't love the East very
much.
But just as I had reached the bot
tom of the blue streak one of the few
newspaper writers that hadn't roasted
me walked in. He hit me on the shoul
der and said: "Cheer up. big fellow.
Tou've got the stuff in you and you'll
beat them all yet. Don't mind the
knockers."
"I'm going home and back to the old
job." I said.
"Oh, forget it.'" said my one friend.
"Go home and get in shape and then
come back again and clean them all
up."
TH do it," I said. And two days
later I was on my way. California
never looked so good to me before as it
did when our train crossed the state
line.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Hw FltMiminona fa Trt4teii Into
T-'lKhtlng Me.
After half a year at home, with a lot
qf good hunting, I began to feel like
taking- on another fight. But I didn't
care to look for little ones. I felt near
enough to the top of my class to want
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION
OF THE WORLD0
a fight for the championship; Things
were soiug along this way in the
Spring of "!0 when all of a sudden j
we heard from Billy Brady in Xew i
York.
Brady had been out of ring affairs (
for a long time and' busy with theat
rical stunts, as he told me afterward,
when one day a gentleman came into
his office with a proposition. He want ed
Brady to go into th; Coney Island
Athletic Club and take charge of all its
affairs. Brady didn't rare much for
the scheme at first. He wanted to be
known as a theatrical man and not as
a. promoter. Anyway, boxing had been
dead in Xew York for some time, and
there had been few good matches.
But the game came up again in great
shape and people began olamorins for
the champions. Brady was sitting in
a cafe one day talking the situation
over, and as he talked he got enthusias
tic. "T ' have a great chance here." he
said. "I know a big fellow out West
who can whip Eitzsimmons and take
the world's championship. He's
fought here in the East, but he didn't
make much of an impression. People
don't know him the way I do. Thf:
time is ripe to spring him, and I've
got a. good mind to take a fiver in
fighting again."
"Why don't you?" asked the party
on the other, side of the table.
"'By George, 1 will:'" exclaimed Blllv
Brady.
He did. He took charge of the Coney
Island A. C. and wired Billy Delaney
to see me and get me to come East
again. In a few days we were on the
way.
When I arrived this time I had a
warm reception from the few good
friends I had made on the former trip,
and I want to thank them here for it,
for it surely did .ease me through the
feeling oC homesickness I had In those
days whenever I was out of sight of
the good old Sierra Madres. "I knew
you'd come back," said one of the boys
who has stuck to me from the first
time we met right up to today. "And
Jim. old man, every cent 1 can save or
borrow goes on you when you fight.
I have to laugh when I hear the wise
ones knock, for 1 know what you
can do."
When I was actually in New York
Brady begau planning a why to f;et
Fitzsimmons to fight me.
"'You can beat Fitz," Billy told me. .'
"I know very well I can." I said.
"Then it's Fitz we've got to get for
you." said Billy.
Brady had a Sherlock Holmes way
of doing business at least in ring af
fairs. The first thing he did was to lay
out a list of the different things that
might induce Fitz to fifrht. Some
lighters, when they want to drag an
unwilling champion into a fight, go
and take a punch at him in some cafe
or roast him through the papers, or
meet him and make a few uncompli
mentary remarks in his presence.
Xonc of that coarse work would havf
suited me. 1 never tried to roast a
m;in 1 knew to be a good tighter. I
always like to give credit to anybody
who deserves it. And as for taking a
punch at a man on the street that
Isn't a part of the game according to
my lights. 1 don't go around punch
ing pv-opie. 1 do my fighting in the
ring, legitimately. xf I ever use my
lists outside it will be like a gentle
man -in self-defense and no other way.
For that matter Billy Brady wouldn't
have encouraged any such low-brow
titcties cither. He has intelligence. He.
never suggested anything to ruffle
Kitzsimnions. Instead he figured that
the thing most likely to influence Fitz
was the need of money.
Brady knew in a general way that
Fitxsimmoits was cither nearly flat
broke or that he had all of his rin.
earnings tied up in some way. Beins
in the theatrical business, he knew a
lot of inside things about various peo
ple. He heard somewhere or other that
Fitzsimmoiip. after a stag tour just
finished, had failed to pay the printers'
bill for his theatrical posters. The bill
was something around $400 or 5500
and the printers had been unable to
collect.
Brady, who was a customer, too.
dropped into the printing company's
office in an incidental sort of way and
in the course of conversation said: "I
hear you have some trouble getting
money from Fitzsimmons. I suppose
he's a little short just now. H haFn't
fought for a long time."
The printers acknowledged that !Kitz
siinmons didn't appear lo be rolling in
ready wealth.
"Well" said Billy, "thai could be fixed
up easily enough. Xext time you call on
P'itz with the bill why don't you sugjrest
that he take on some dub for an easy
fight and ;;et a few thousand dollars? .He.
hasn't ht?on In Ihe ring since he won the
championship at Carson two yeare ago,
and the people arc crazy to see him
aaln."
Here Brady stopped and thought a
while. Then he Jumped out of his chair
as if he had a sudden idea.
"Why. say," he said. "I'll give him a.
fight al my clujb down at Coney Island
and pay him good money for it. He can
lake on this big clumsy guy, Jeffries, that
I've just brought on from California. He
can beat Jeffries without any trouble.
It'll be easy money."
"'I'll mention it to him," said the
printer, getting interested. "It sounds
good, and I'd like to see Fitz in action
aain myself."
'Brady did another thinking stunt.
Then he took out a pen and a piece
of paper and figured for live minutes.
"The preliminaries won't need to cost
much when we've got a champion like
Fitzsimmons for a hcadliner," he went
on. "and I won't have to give that big
stitT. Jeffries, more than a. Jew dollars.
As soon as the light is over I can send
him back to the Coast and get rid of
liini, so I'll save money that way, too.
I figure that I can give Fitz 65 per cent
of the receipts, win, lose or draw, and
still make enough to cover all expenses
and have a. fair profit left over. Tell
him that. He can have 5 per cent, and
we'll draw the biggest house on record."
Brady had struck the right scheme.
Fitzsimmons listened and agreed to
fight. He remembered how I fought
Armstrong and broke my hand, and he
didn't think I could fight for sour apples.
He didn't know that I'd put in nearly a.
year studying the game and working up
my speed. And, anyway, there never
was a more cocksure, self-confident man
in the world than Fitz. He was cham
pion, and he looked on me as jiist a. big.
awkward fellow who would be soft pick
ing. "The bigger they are the "arder they
fall," said Fitz when he met AJrady to
talk over the terms.
"I know that." said Brady, hut when
he told me alout it at night he leaned
back in his chair and laughed. "And
do you know what I was saying to my
self?" he ask,ed. "1 was saying, "And th
bigger they are the 'arder they hit,
Bobby, iny boy." "
So we go' Fitzsimmons, and at last the
thing I' d been dreaming about ever sines
that day when I walked down the street
with Charley White art Carson had come
true. I had my chance to fight for the
championship of the world. And f made
up my mind right then that I'd either
rwin It or they'd carry me out of the
ring on a shutter. 1 didn't intend to take
the trouble to provide the shutter either.
Some people have said that Fitzsim
mons, being so sure of winning, didn't
train hard for our fight. But I hardly
believe that. Fitzsimmons never fought
without training hard. He liked the work
for its own sake, and he never look
chances.
BEAT m