“I came down here to fight,” he announced, at the end of the first week.
“Where’s Jim Hanford?”
Stubener whistled.
“A big champion like him wouldn’t look at you,” was his answer. “?‘Go and get a reputation,’ is what he’d say.”
“I can lick him.” [35]
“But the public doesn’t know that. If you licked him you’d be champion of the world, and no champion ever became so with his first fight.”
“I can.”
“But the public doesn’t know it, Pat. It wouldn’t come to see you fight. And it’s the crowd that brings the money and the big purses. That’s why Jim Hanford wouldn’t consider you for a second. There’d be nothing in it for him. Besides, he’s getting three thousand a week right now in vaudeville4, with a contract for twenty-five weeks. Do you think he’d chuck that for a go with a man no one ever heard of? You’ve got to do something first, make a record. You’ve got to begin on the little local dubs5 that nobody ever heard of—guys like Chub Collins, Rough-House Kelly, and the Flying Dutchman. When you’ve put them away, you’re only started on the first [36]round of the ladder. But after that you’ll go up like a balloon.”
“I’ll meet those three named in the same ring one after the other,” was Pat’s decision. “Make the arrangements accordingly.”
Stubener laughed.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you think I can put them away?”
“I know you can,” Stubener assured him. “But it can’t be arranged that way. You’ve got to take them one at a time. Besides, remember, I know the game and I’m managing you. This proposition has to be worked up, and I’m the boy that knows how. If we’re lucky, you may get to the top in a couple of years and be the champion with a mint of money.”
Pat sighed at the prospect6, then brightened up.
“And after that I can retire and go back home to the old man,” he said. [37]
Stubener was about to reply, but checked himself. Strange as was this championship material, he felt confident that when the top was reached it would prove very similar to that of all the others who had gone before. Besides, two years was a long way off, and there was much to be done in the meantime.
When Pat fell to moping around his quarters, reading endless poetry books and novels drawn7 from the public library, Stubener sent him off to live on a Contra Costa ranch8 across the Bay, under the watchful9 eye of Spider Walsh. At the end of a week Spider whispered that the job was a cinch. His charge was away and over the hills from dawn till dark, whipping the streams for trout10, shooting quail11 and rabbits, and pursuing the one lone12 and crafty13 buck14 famous for having survived a decade of hunters. It was the Spider who waxed lazy and fat, while [38]his charge kept himself in condition.
As Stubener expected, his unknown was laughed at by the fight club managers. Were not the woods full of unknowns who were always breaking out with championship rashes? A preliminary, say of four rounds—yes, they would grant him that. But the main event—never. Stubener was resolved that young Pat should make his debut15 in nothing less than a main event, and, by the prestige of his own name he at last managed it. With much misgiving16, the Mission Club agreed that Pat Glendon could go fifteen rounds with Rough-House Kelly for a purse of one hundred dollars. It was the custom of young fighters to assume the names of old ring heroes, so no one suspected that he was the son of the great Pat Glendon, while Stubener held his peace. It was a good [39]press surprise package to spring later.
Came the night of the fight, after a month of waiting. Stubener’s anxiety was keen. His professional reputation was staked that his man would make a showing, and he was astounded17 to see Pat, seated in his corner a bare five minutes, lose the healthy color from his cheeks, which turned a sickly yellow.
“Cheer up, boy,” Stubener said, slapping him on the shoulder. “The first time in the ring is always strange, and Kelly has a way of letting his opponent wait for him on the chance of getting stage-fright.”
“It isn’t that,” Pat answered. “It’s the tobacco smoke. I’m not used to it, and it’s making me fair sick.”
His manager experienced the quick shock of relief. A man who turned sick from mental causes, even if he were a [40]Samson, could never win to place in the prize ring. As for tobacco smoke, the youngster would have to get used to it, that was all.
Young Pat’s entrance into the ring had been met with silence, but when Rough-House Kelly crawled through the ropes his greeting was uproarious. He did not belie18 his name. He was a ferocious-looking man, black and hairy, with huge, knotty19 muscles, weighing a full two hundred pounds. Pat looked across at him curiously20, and received a savage21 scowl22. After both had been introduced to the audience, they shook hands. And even as their gloves gripped, Kelly ground his teeth, convulsed his face with an expression of rage, and muttered:
“You’ve got yer nerve wid yeh.” He flung Pat’s hand roughly from his, and hissed23, “I’ll eat yeh up, ye pup!”
The audience laughed at the action, [41]and it guessed hilariously24 at what Kelly must have said.
Back in his corner, and waiting the gong, Pat turned to Stubener.
“Why is he angry with me?” he asked.
“He ain’t,” Stubener answered. “That’s his way, trying to scare you. It’s just mouth-fighting.”
“It isn’t boxing,” was Pat’s comment; and Stubener, with a quick glance, noted25 that his eyes were as mildly blue as ever.
“Be careful,” the manager warned, as the gong for the first round sounded and Pat stood up. “He’s liable to come at you like a man-eater.”
And like a man-eater Kelly did come at him, rushing across the ring in wild fury. Pat, who in his easy way had advanced only a couple of paces, gauged26 the other’s momentum27, side-stepped, and brought his stiff-arched right across to the jaw28. Then he stood and looked on with a great [42]curiosity. The fight was over. Kelly had fallen like a stricken bullock to the floor, and there he lay without movement while the referee29, bending over him, shouted the ten seconds in his unheeding ear. When Kelly’s seconds came to lift him, Pat was before them. Gathering30 the huge, inert31 bulk of the man in his arms, he carried him to his corner and deposited him on the stool and in the arms of his seconds.
Half a minute later, Kelly’s head lifted and his eyes wavered open. He looked about him stupidly and then to one of his seconds.
“What happened?” he queried32 hoarsely33. “Did the roof fall on me?”
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收听单词发音
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1
grouchy
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| adj.好抱怨的；愠怒的 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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3
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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vaudeville
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| n.歌舞杂耍表演 | |
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5
dubs
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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7
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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8
ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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9
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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10
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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11
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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12
lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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13
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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14
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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15
debut
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| n.首次演出，初次露面 | |
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16
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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17
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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18
belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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19
knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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20
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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21
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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22
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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23
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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24
hilariously
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25
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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gauged
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| adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分 | |
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27
momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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28
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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29
referee
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| n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人 | |
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30
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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31
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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32
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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