第25章
"Wot would yous do if a bloke tried to sneak yer moll?"he inquired in an injured tone.
"Break 'is bleedin'neck,"said Chook as he stepped up.
"When I want yer advice,I'll ask fer it,"cried Stinky.
"Yer'll git it now without askin',"said Chook."Don't open yer mouth so wide,or yer'll ketch cold.""I don't want ter talk ter anybody as 'awks rotten cabbages through the streets,"cried Stinky.
"The cabbages don't stink worse than some people I've met,"Chook replied.
Stinky,who was very touchy on the score of the vile smell of his trade,boiled over.
"Never mind my trade,"he shouted,"I'm as good a man as yous.""Garn,that's only a rumour!I wouldn't let it git about,"sneered Chook.
The smouldering hate of months burst suddenly into flame,and the two men rushed at each other.The others tried to separate them.
"Don't be a fool."
"Yer'll only git lumbered."
"'Ere's the traps."But the two enemies,with a sudden twist,broke away from their advisers,and threw off their hats and coats.
And as suddenly,the others formed a ring round the two antagonists,who faced each other with the savage intensity of gamecocks,with no thought but to maim and kill the enemy in front of them.
A crowd gathered,and Pinkey was pushed to the outside of the ring,where she could only judge the progress of the fight by the cries of the onlookers.
"Use yer left,Chook."
"Wot price that?"
"Time!"
"Wait fer 'is rush,an'use yer right."
"Foller 'im up,Chook."
"Oh,dry up!I tell yer 'e slipped."
"Not in the same class,I tell yer."
"Mix it,Chook--mix it.Yer've got 'im beat."The last remark was true,for Stinky,in spite of his superior weight and height,was no match for Chook,the cock of Cardigan Street.It was the fifth round,and Chook was waiting for an opening to finish his man before the police came up,when a surprising thing happened.As Stinky retreated in exhaustion before the fists that rattled on his face like drumsticks,his hand struck his enemy's lower jaw by chance,and the next minute he was amazed to see Chook drop to the ground as if shot.And he stared with open mouth at his opponent,wondering why he didn't move.
"Gawd,'e's stiffened 'im!"
"I 'eard 'is neck crack!"
Stinky stood motionless,his wits scattered by this sudden change--the stillness of his enemy,who a moment ago was beating him down with murderous fists.
"'Ere's the johns,"cried someone.
"Come on,Liz,"cried Stinky,and turned to run.
"Cum with yous,yer great 'ulkin',stinkin'coward,"cried Pinkey,her face crimson with passion,"yer'll be lucky if y'ain't hung fer murder."Stinky listened in amazement.Here was another change that he was too dazed to understand,and,hastily grabbing his coat,he ran.
Pinkey ran to Chook's prostrate body,and listened."I can 'ear 'im breathin',"she cried.
The others listened,and the breathing grew louder,a curious,snoring sound.
"Gorblimey!A knock-out!"
"'E'll be right in a few minutes."
It was true.Stinky,with a haphazard blow,had given Chook the dreaded knock-out,a jolt beside the chin that,in the expressive phrase,"sent him to sleep".
But now the police came up,glad of this chance to show their authority and order the people about.The crowd melted.
Chook's mates had pulled him into a sitting position,when,to Pinkey's delight,he opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"W'ere the 'ell am I?"he muttered,like a man awaking from a dream.
"What's this?You've been fighting,"said the policeman.
"Me?No fear,"growled Chook."I was walkin'along,quiet as a lamb,when a bloke come up an'landed me on the jaw.""Well,who was he?"asked the policeman.
"I dunno.I never set eyes on 'im before,"said Chook,lying without hesitation to their common enemy,the police.
The policeman looked hard at him,and then cried roughly,"Get out of this,or I'll lock you up."Chook's mates helped him to his feet,and he staggered away like a drunken man.Suddenly he became aware that someone was crying softly near him,and,turning his head,found that it was Pinkey,who was holding his arm and guiding his steps.He wrenched his arm free with an oath,remembering that she was the cause of his fight and defeat."Wot the 'ell are yous doin''ere?Go an'tell yer bloke I nearly got lumbered.""I ain't got no bloke,"sobbed Pinkey.
"Wotcher mean?"cried Chook.
"I don't run after people I don't want,"said Pinkey,smiling through her tears.
"Fair dinkum?"cried Chook.
Pinkey nodded her head,with its crown of hair that glittered like bronze.
Chook stopped to think.
"I'm orl right,"he said to Waxy and Joe;"I'll ketch up with yer in a minit."They understood and walked on.
He stood and stared at Pinkey with a scowl that softened imperceptibly into a smile,and then a passionate flame leapt into his eyes.
"Cum 'ere,"he said;and Pinkey obeyed him like a child.
He looked at her with a gloating fondness in his eyes,and then caught her in his arms and kissed her with his bleeding lips.
"Ugh,I'm all over blood!"cried the girl with a shuddering laugh,as she wiped her lips with her handkerchief.
JONAH DECLARES WAR
As it promised to be a slack week,Paasch had decided to dress the window himself,as he felt that the goods were not displayed to their proper advantage.This was a perquisite of Jonah's,for which he was paid eighteenpence extra once a fortnight;but Jonah had deserted him--a fact which he discovered by finding that Jonah's tools,his only property,were missing.