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肩書を与える: General Ironfist
Author: Robert E. Howard
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eBook No.: 0609101h.html
Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd: December 2006
Date most recently updated: December 2013

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General Ironfist

by

Robert E. Howard

AS I CLUMB into the （犯罪の）一味 that night in the 楽しみ Palace Fight Club, on the Hong Kong waterfront, I was low in my mind. I'd come to Hong Kong looking for a former shipmate of 地雷. I'd come on from Tainan as 急速な／放蕩な as I could, even leaving my bulldog マイク 船内に the Sea Girl, which wasn't 予定 to touch at Hong Kong for a couple of weeks yet.

But Soapy Jackson, the feller I was looking for, had just dropped plumb out of sight. Nobody'd saw him for weeks, or knowed what had become of him. 一方／合間 my dough was all gone, so I 受託するd a 一区切り／（ボクシングなどの）試合 with a big Chinese 闘士，戦闘機 they called the Yeller 台風.

He was a favorite with the 冒険的な （人が）群がる and the Palace was jammed with both white men and Chineses that night, some very high class. I noticed one Chinee in particular, whilst setting in my corner waiting for the bell, because his European 着せる／賦与するs was so swell, and because he seemed to take such a 燃やすing 利益／興味 in the goings on. But I didn't 支払う／賃金 much attention to the （人が）群がる; I was impatient to get the 戦う／戦い over with.

The Yeller 台風 重さを計るd three hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs and he was a 長，率いる taller'n me; but most of his 負わせる was around his waist-line, and he didn't have the 肉親，親類d of 武器 and shoulders that makes a hitter. And it don't make no difference how big a Chinaman is, he can't take it.

I wasn't in no mood for classy ボクシング that night. I just walked into him, let him flail away with both 手渡すs till I seen a 開始, and then let go my 権利. He shook the （犯罪の）一味 when he 攻撃する，衝突する the boards, and the brawl was over.

支払う／賃金ing no 注意する to the howls of the dumbfounded multitude, I 急いでd to my dressing-room, donned my duds, and then 運ぶ／漁獲高d a letter from my britches pocket and 熟考する／考慮するd it like I'd done a hundred times before.

It was 演説（する）／住所d to Mr. Soapy Jackson, American 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, Tainan, Taiwan, and was from a San Francisco 法律 会社／堅い. After Soapy left the Sea Girl, he tended 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 at the American, but he'd been gone a month when the Sea Girl ドッキングする／減らす／ドックに入れるd at Tainan again, and the proprietor showed me that letter which had just come for him. He said Soapy had went to Hong Kong, but he didn't know his 演説（する）／住所, so I took the letter and come on alone to find him, because I had a idea it was important. Maybe he'd been left a fortune.

But I'd 設立する Hong Kong in 騒動, just like all the 残り／休憩（する） of 中国. Up in the hills a lot of 強盗団の一味, which called themselves 革命の armies, was raising hell, and all I couldst hear was talk about General Yun Chei, and General Whang Shan, and General Feng, which they said was really a white man. Folks said Yun and Feng had joined up against Whang, and some tall 戦う／戦いing was 推定する／予想するd, and the foreigners was all piling 負かす／撃墜する out of the 内部の. It was 平易な for a white sailorman with no 関係s to 減少（する） out of sight and never be heard of again. I thought what if Soapy has got hisself scuppered by them 血まみれの devils, just when maybe he was on the p'int of coming into big money.

井戸／弁護士席, I stuck the letter in my pocket, and sallied 前へ／外へ into the lamp-lit street to look for Soapy some more, when somebody hove up と一緒に of me, and who should it be but that dapper Chinee in European 着せる／賦与するs I'd noticed in the first 列／漕ぐ／騒動, ringside, at the fight.

"You are Sailor Costigan, are you not?" he said in perfect English.

"Yeah," I said, after 予定 consideration.

"I saw you fight the Yellow 台風 tonight," he said. "The blow you dealt him would have felled an ox. Can you always 攻撃する，衝突する like that?"

"Why not?" I 問い合わせd. He looked me over closely, and nodded his 長，率いる like he was agreeing with hisself about something.

"Come in and have a drink," he said, so I follered him into a native 共同の where they wasn't nothing but Chineses. They looked at me with about as much 表現 as fishes, and went on guzzling tea and rice ワイン out of them little fool egg-爆撃する cups. The 蜜柑, or whatever he was, led the way into a room which the door was covered with velvet curtains and the 塀で囲むs had silk hangings with dragons all over 'em, and we sot 負かす／撃墜する at a ebony （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and a Chinaboy brung in a porcelain jug and the glasses.

The 蜜柑 注ぐd out the licker, and, whilst he was 注ぐing 地雷, such a infernal ゆすり arose outside the door that I turned around and looked, but couldn't see nothing for the curtains, and the noise 静かなd 負かす／撃墜する all of a sudden. Them Chineses is always squabbling amongst theirselves.

So the 蜜柑 said, "Let us drink to your vivid victory!"

"Aw," I said, "that wasn't nothin'. All I had to do was 攻撃する，衝突する him."

But I drank, and I said, "This is funny tastin' stuff. What is it?"

"Kaoliang," he said. "Have another glass." So he 注ぐd 'em, and nigh upsot my glass with his sleeve as he 手渡すd it to me.

So I drank it, and he said, "What's the 事柄 with your ears?"

"You oughta know, bein' a fight fan," I said.

"This fight tonight was the first I have ever 証言，証人／目撃するd," he 自白するd.

"I'd never thought it from the 利益／興味 you've taken in the brawl," I said. "井戸／弁護士席, these ears is what is known in the vernacular of the game as cauliflowers. I got 'em, also this undulatin' nose, from stoppin' gloves with human knuckles inside of 'em. All old-timers is 類似して decorated, unless they happen to be of the dancin'-school variety."

"You have fought in the （犯罪の）一味 many times?" he 問い合わせd.

"Oftener'n I can remember," I answered, and his 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs gleamed with some secret 楽しみ. I took another snort of that there Chinese licker out of the jug, and I begun to feel oratorical and histrionic.

"From Savannah to Singapore," I said, "from the alleys of Bristol to the wharfs of Melbourne, I've soaked the resin dust with my 血 and the 血の塊／突き刺す of my enemies. I'm the いじめ（る） of the Sea Girl, the toughest ship afloat, and when I 始める，決める foot on the ドッキングする／減らす／ドックに入れるs, strong men 追跡（する） cover! I—"

I suddenly noticed my tongue was getting 厚い and my 長，率いる was swimming. The 蜜柑 wasn't making no 試みる／企てる to talk. He was setting 星／主役にするing at me kinda 激しい-like, and his 注目する，もくろむs glittered through a もや which was beginning to float about me.

"What the heck!" I said stupidly. Then I heaved up with a roar, and the room reeled around me. "You yeller-bellied bilge-ネズミ!" I roared drunkenly. "You done 麻薬d my grog! You—"

I grabbed him by the shirt with my left, and dragged him across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 最高の，を越す, 製図／抽選 支援する my 権利, but before I could bash him with it, something 爆発するd at the base of my skull, and the lights went out.

* * *

I MUST HAVE been out a long time. Once or twice I had a sensation of 存在 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd and jounced around, and thought I was in my bunk and a rough sea running, and then again I kinda ばく然と realized that I was bumping over a rutty road in a automobile, and I had a feeling that I せねばならない get up and knock somebody's 封鎖する off. But mostly I just laid there and didn't know nothing at all.

When I did finally come to myself, the first thing I discovered was that my 手渡すs and feet was tied with ropes. Then I seen I was laying on a （軍の）野営地，陣営 cot in a テント, and a big Chinaman with a ライフル銃／探して盗む was standing over me. I craned my neck, and seen another man setting on a pile of silk cushions, and he looked kinda familiar.

At first I didn't 認める him, because now he was dressed in embroidered silk 式服s, Chinese style, but then I seen it was the 蜜柑. I struggled up to a sitting position, in spite of my 社債s, and 演説（する）／住所d him with poignancy and fervor.

"Why," I 結論するd passionately, "did you 麻薬 my licker? Where am I at? What've you done with me, you scum of a Macao gutter?"

"You are in the （軍の）野営地，陣営 of General Yun Chei," he said. "I 輸送（する）d you hither in my automobile while you lay senseless."

"And who the devil are you?" I 需要・要求するd.

He gave me a sardonic 屈服する. "I am General Yun Chei, your humble servant," he said.

"The hell you are!" I commented with a touch of old-world culture. "You had a 神経, comin' 権利 into Hong Kong."

"The 連邦主義者 fools are blind," he said. "Often I play my own 秘かに調査する."

"But what'd you 誘拐する me for?" I yelled with passion, jerking at my cords till the veins stood out on my 寺s. "I can't 支払う／賃金 no cussed 身代金."

"Have you ever heard of General Feng?" he asked.

"And what if I has?" I snarled, 存在 in no mood for riddles.

"He is （軍の）野営地，陣営d nearby," said he. "He is a white foreign-devil like yourself. You have heard his 愛称—?"

"井戸／弁護士席?" I 需要・要求するd.

"He is a man of 広大な／多数の／重要な strength and violent passions," said General Yun. "He has acquired a に引き続いて more because of his personal fighting ability than because of his intellect. Whomever he strikes with his 握りこぶしs 落ちるs senseless to the ground. So the 兵士s call him General Ironfist.

"Now, he and I have 一時的に 連合した our 軍隊s, because our 相互の enemy, General Whang Shan, is somewhere in the 周辺. General Whang has a 軍隊 greater than ours, and he likewise 所有するs an airplane, which he 飛行機で行くs himself. We do not know 正確に／まさに where he is, but, on the other 手渡す, he does not know our position, either, and we are careful to guard against 秘かに調査するs. No one leaves or enters our （軍の）野営地，陣営 without special 許可.

"Though Feng and myself are 一時的な 同盟（する）s, there is no love lost between us, and he 絶えず 捜し出すs to 土台を崩す my prestige with my men. To 保護する myself I must 報復する—not so as to precipitate trouble between our armies, but in such a way as to make him lose 直面する.

"General Feng 誇るs that he can 征服する／打ち勝つ any man in 中国 with his naked 握りこぶしs, and he has frequently dared me to 炭坑，オーケストラ席 my hardiest captains against him for the sheer sport of it. He 井戸／弁護士席 knows that no man in my army could stand up against him, and his arrogance lowers my prestige. So I went 内密に to Hong Kong to find a man who might have a fighting chance against him. I 熟視する／熟考するd the Yellow 台風, but when you laid him low with a 選び出す／独身 一打／打撃, I knew you were the man for whom I was looking. I have many friends in Hong Kong. Drugging you was 平易な. The first time a pre-arranged noise at the door distracted your attention. But that was not enough, so I contrived to 麻薬 your second drink under cover of my sleeve. By the 宗教上の dragon, you had enough 麻薬 in you to have 打ち勝つ an elephant before you succumbed!

"But here you are. I shall 現在の you to General Feng, before all the captains, and challenge him to make good his 誇る. He cannot with 栄誉（を受ける） 辞退する; and if you （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 him, he will lose 直面する, and my prestige will rise accordingly, because you 代表する me."

"And what do I get out of it?" I 需要・要求するd.

"If you 勝利，勝つ," he said, "I will send you 支援する to Hong Kong with a thousand American dollars."

"And what if I lose?" I said.

"Ah," he smiled bleakly, "a man whose 長，率いる has been 除去するd by the executioner's sword has no need of money."

I burst into a 冷淡な sweat and sot in silent meditation.

"Do you agree?" he asked at last.

"I'd like to know what choice I got," I snarled. "Take these here cords offa me and gimme some grub. I won't fight for nobody on a empty belly."

He clapped his 手渡すs, and the 兵士 削減（する） my cords with his bayonet, and another menial come in with a big dish of mutton stew and some bread and rice ワイン, so I fell to and lapped it all up in a hurry.

"As a 記念品 of 評価," said General Yun, "I now make you a 現在の of this unworthy trinket."

And he 運ぶ／漁獲高d out the finest watch I ever seen and give it to me.

"If the gift pleases you," he said, 公式文書，認めるing my gratification, "let it 神経 your thews against General Ironfist."

"Don't worry about that," I said, admiring the watch, which was gold with dragons carved on it. "I'll 破産した／（警察が）手入れする him so hard he'll be loopin' the 宙返り飛行 for a week."

"Excellent!" beamed General Yun. "If you could contrive to 取引，協定 him a 致命的な 傷害 during the 戦闘, it could 簡単にする 事柄s 大いに. But come! I shall 絡まる General Feng in his own web!"

I FOLLERED HIM out of the テント, and seen a lot of other テントs and ragged 兵士s 演習ing amongst 'em, and off to one 味方する another （軍の）野営地，陣営 with more yeller-bellied gunmen in it. It was still kinda 早期に in the morning, and I gathered it had tooken us all night to get there in Yun's 自動車. We was away up in the hills, and they was no 調印する of civilization anywheres.

General Yun 長，率いるd straight for a big テント in the middle of the （軍の）野営地，陣営, and I follered him in. A lot of officers in all 肉親，親類d of uniforms riz and 屈服するd, except one big man who sot on a （軍の）野営地，陣営 stool. He was a white man in faded khaki and boots and a sun helmet; his 握りこぶしs was as big as mauls, and his hairy 武器 was 厚い with muscles. His 直面する and corded neck was 燃やすd brick-colored by the sun, and he wore a 表現 like he habitually hankered for somebody to give him a excuse to slug 'em.

"General Yun—" he begun in a 厳しい 発言する／表明する, then stopped and glared at me. "What the hell are you doing here?" he 需要・要求するd.

"Joel Ballerin!" I said, 星／主役にするing at him. I might of knowed. Wherever they was war, you'd usually find Joel Ballerin 権利 in the middle of it. He was from South Australia, and had a natural instinct for 大虐殺. He was famed as a fighting man all over South Africa, Australia and the South Seas. Gunrunner, blackbirder, smuggler, 著作権侵害者, pearler, or what have you, but always a scrapper from the word go, with a constant hankering to bounce his enormous 握りこぶしs offa somebody's conk. I'd never fit him, but I'd saw some of his handiwork. The 廃虚 he could make of a human carcass was plumb appalling.

He glared at me with no love, because I got かなりの 評判 as a man-mauler myself, and fighting men is jealous of each other's fame. I couldst feel my own short hairs bristle as I glared at him.

"You have 誇るd much of your prowess with the clenched 握りこぶし," said Yun Chei, softly. "You have 繰り返して 保証するd me that there was not a man in my army, 含むing my unworthy self, whom you could not subdue with 緩和する. I have here one of my 信奉者s whom I 投機・賭ける to 支援する against you."

"That's Steve Costigan, an American sailor," snarled Ballerin. "He's no man of yours."

"On the contrary!" said General Yun. "Do you not see that he wears my dragon watch, ゆだねるd only to my loyal henchmen?"

"井戸／弁護士席," growled Ballerin, "there's something fishy about this. When you bring that cabbage-eared gorilla up here—"

"Hey!" I said indignantly. "You 中止する heavin' them 侮辱s around! If you ain't got the guts to fight, why, say so!"

"Why, you 爆破d fool!" he roared, jumping up off his stool like it was red hot. "I'll break your infernal 長，率いる 権利 here and now—"

General Yun got between us and smiled blandly and said, "Let us be dignified in all things. Let it be a public 展示. I 恐れる this テント would not 証明する a proper 円形競技場 for two such gladiators. I shall have a （犯罪の）一味 建設するd at once."

Ballerin turned away, grunting, "All 権利; 直す／買収する，八百長をする it any way you want to." Then he wheeled 支援する, his 注目する，もくろむs 炎上ing, and snarled at me, "As for you, you Yankee ape, you're going out of this （軍の）野営地，陣営 feet-first!"

"Big talk don't 破産した／（警察が）手入れする no chins," I retorted. "I never did like you anyway, you nigger-stealin' pearl-どろぼう!"

He looked like he was going to 破産した／（警察が）手入れする some 血-大型船s, but he just give a ferocious snarl and 急落（する），激減（する）d out of the テント. General Yun 動議d me to foller him, and his officers tagged after us. The others follered General Feng. They didn't seem to be no love lost betwixt them two armies.

"General Ironfist is caught in his own snare!" gurgled General Yun, hugging hisself with glee. "He lusts for 戦う／戦い, but is furious and 怪しげな because I 罠にかける him into it. All the men of both armies shall see his downfall. Call in the patrols from the hills! General Ironfist! Ha!"

GENERAL YUN DIDN'T take me 支援する to his テント, but he put me in another'n and told me to holler if I 手配中の，お尋ね者 anything. He said I'd be guarded so's Ballerin couldn't have me bumped off, but I seen I was as good as a 囚人.

井戸／弁護士席, I sot in there, and heard some men come marching up and surround the テント, and somebody give orders in broken Chinese, and cussed heartily in English, and I stuck my 長，率いる out of the door and hollered, "Soapy!"

There he was, all 権利, 命令（する）ing the guard, with a old British army coat three sizes too small for him, and a sword three sizes too big. He nigh dropped his sword when he seen me, and bellered, "Steve! What you doin' here?"

"I come up to lick Joel Ballerin for Yun Chei," I said. And he said, "So that's why they're buildin' that （犯罪の）一味! Nobody but the highest officers knows what's goin' on."

"What you doin' here?" I 需要・要求するd.

"Aw," he said, "I got tired tendin' 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 and decided to become a 兵士 of fortune. So I skipped to Hong Kong and （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 it up into the hills and joined Yun Chei. But Steve, the life ain't what it's 割れ目d up to be. I don't mind the fightin' much, 原因（となる） it's mostly yellin' and shootin' and little 損失 done, but marchin' through these hills is hell, and the food is lousy. We don't get paid 正規の／正選手, and no place to spend the dough when we do get it. For ten cents I'd 砂漠."

"井戸／弁護士席, lissen," I said, "I got a letter for you." I reached into my britches pocket, and then I give a yelp. "I been rolled!" I hollered. "It's gone!"

"What?" he said.

"Your letter," I said. "I was lookin' for you to give it to you. It come to the American 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 at Tainan. A letter from the Ormond and Ashley 法律 会社／堅い, 'Frisco."

"What was in it?" he 需要・要求するd.

"How should I know?" I returned irritably. "I didn't open it. I thought maybe somebody had left you a lot of dough, or somethin'."

"I've heard pa say he had 豊富な 親族s," said Soapy, doubtfully. "Look again, Steve."

"I've looked," I said. "It ain't here. I bet Yun Chei took it offa me whilst I was out. I'll go over and 破産した／（警察が）手入れする him on the jaw—"

"Wait!" hollered Soapy. "You'll get us both 発射! You ain't supposed to leave this テント, and I got to guard you."

"井戸／弁護士席," I said, "t'aint likely they was any money in the letter. Likely they was just tellin' you where to go to get the dough. I remember the 演説（する）／住所, and when I get 支援する to Hong Kong, I'll 令状 and tell 'em I got you 位置を示すd."

"That's a long time to wait," said Soapy, pessimistically.

"Not so long," I said. "As soon as I lick Ballerin, I'll start for Hong Kong—"

"No, you won't," said Soapy. "No ways soon, anyhow."

"What d'you mean?" I asked. "Yun said he'd send me 支援する if I licked Ballerin."

"He didn't say when, did he?" 問い合わせd Soapy. "He ain't goin' to take no chance of you going 支援する and talkin' and revealin' our position to Whang's 秘かに調査するs. No, sir; he'll keep you 囚人 till he's ready to change （軍の）野営地，陣営, and that may be six months."

"Me stay in this 捨てる six months?" I exclaimed ひどく. "I won't do it!"

"Maybe you won't at that," he said cheeringly. "A lot of things can happen 予期しない around a 反逆者／反逆する Chinee （軍の）野営地，陣営. I see you're wearin' Yun Chei's dragon watch."

"Yeah," I said. "Ain't it a beaut? Yun Chei give it to me."

"井戸／弁護士席" he said, "that watch has been give away before, but it has a way of comin' 支援する to Yun Chei after the owner's demise, which is 一般に sudden and たびたび（訪れる）. Four men that I know of has already been made a 現在の of that watch, and 非，不，無 of 'em is now alive."

"The hell you say!" I said, beginning to perspire copiously. "This is a nice, friendly place I got into. Do you want to stay here?"

"No, I don't!" he replied 激しく. "I didn't want to before, and when I thinks they's maybe a million dollars waitin' somewhere for me to spend, I feels like throwin' 負かす／撃墜する this fool sword and headin' for the coast."

"井戸／弁護士席," I said, "I ain't goin' to spend no six months here. Yet I wants that thousand bucks. Let's us make a break tonight, after I collects."

"They'd run us 負かす／撃墜する before we'd went far," he said despondently. "I got one of the few good horses in （軍の）野営地，陣営, but it couldn't carry us both at any 肉親，親類d of a clip. All the other nags are fastened up and guarded so nobody can 砂漠 and carry news of our どの辺に to General Whang, which would give a 脚 to know, so he could （警察の）手入れ，急襲 us. Yun Chei knows he can 信用 me not to, because Whang wants to 削減（する） off my 長，率いる. I stole a （製品，工事材料の）一回分 of his eatin' chickens onst when we was fightin' him over 近づく Kauchau."

"井戸／弁護士席," I begun hotly, "I'll be derned if I'm goin' to—"

"Shhh!" he said. "We got to change guard now; here comes the other squad. I'm goin' off somewheres and think."

Another ギャング（団） of Chinamen come up with a native officer in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, and Soapy and his men marched off, and I sot and 負傷させる my dragon watch, and tried to think of something, but didn't have no success, as usual.

* * *

TIME DRAGGED SLOW, but finally about the middle of the afternoon, a 暴徒 of captains or something come and led me out of the テント and 護衛するd me to the （犯罪の）一味 which had been built about halfway between the （軍の）野営地，陣営s. They was already a solid bank of 兵士s around it, Yun Chei's on one 味方する and General Feng's on the other, with their ライフル銃／探して盗むs. The （犯罪の）一味 was just four 地位，任命するs stuck in the ground, with ropes stretched between 'em, and a 明らかにする 床に打ち倒す of boards elevated maybe a yard or more. General Yun was setting in a （軍の）野営地，陣営 議長，司会を務める on one 味方する, with his officers around him, and a big Chinee, which was naked to the waist, was standing 権利 behind him. The other officers and the ありふれた 兵士s of both armies sot on the ground or stood up.

I didn't see Soapy nowheres, and they wasn't no seconds nor handlers. The Chineses didn't know nothing about such things. I clumb into the （犯罪の）一味 and 診察するd the ropes, which was too loose, for one thing, and the 床に打ち倒す, which was solid enough but 非，不，無 too even, and no padding of any 肉親，親類d on it. They had had sense enough to put （軍の）野営地，陣営 stools in the corners, so I shed my cap, coat and shirt, and sot 負かす／撃墜する. General Yun then riz and come over to me and smiled gently and said, "Smite the dog as you smote the Yellow 台風. If you lose the fight, you will lose your 長，率いる in this very （犯罪の）一味."

"I ain't goin' to lose," I snarled, 存在 fed up on that 肉親，親類d of talk, and he smiled benevolently and retired to his 議長，司会を務める. Just then somebody yanked my pants 脚, and I looked 負かす／撃墜する and seen Soapy. He was shaking with excitement.

"Don't talk, Steve!" he whispered. "Just lissen! Yun Chei thinks I'm encouragin' you for the 戦う／戦い. But lissen: I've 直す／買収する，八百長をするd it! I got 勝利，勝つd of a 連邦の army （軍の）野営地，陣営d in a valley to the south. They don't know nothin' about us, but I 設立する a man who swore I could 信用 him, and I 密輸するd him off on my horse. He'll guide 'em 支援する here, and they'll break up this den of thieves. When the shootin' starts, we'll duck and run for the 連邦の lines. I sent my man 権利 after I talked to you this mornin', so they oughta get here in maybe an hour or so."

"井戸／弁護士席," I said, "I hope they don't get here too soon; I want to collect my thousand bucks from Yun Chei before I run."

"I'm goin' to snoop amongst Feng's men," he hissed, and just then the （人が）群がる on the opposite 味方する of the （犯罪の）一味 divided, and here come Feng hisself, 偽名，通称 Joel Ballerin.

He was stripped to the waist, and he wore his fighting scowl. His short blond hair bristled, and his men sent up a 元気づける. He was big, and 井戸／弁護士席 built for 速度(を上げる） and 力／強力にする. He had 幅の広い, square shoulders, a big arching chest, and a 激しい neck, and his muscles 公正に／かなり bulged under his sun-reddened 肌 with every move he made. He stood square on his wide-を締めるd 脚s, and they showed plenty of 力／強力にする and 運動. He was a fraction of a インチ taller'n me, and 重さを計るd about 200 to my 190, all bone and muscle and hellfire.

Looking 支援する on that fight, it was one of the strangest I ever mixed in. They wasn't no 審判（をする）. They was a Chinaman who whanged a gong every now and then when he remembered to, but he wasn't no-ways 一貫した in his time-keeping. Some of the 一連の会議、交渉／完成するs lasted thirty seconds and some lasted nine or ten minutes. When one of us went 負かす／撃墜する, they wasn't no counting. The idea was that we should just keep on 戦う／戦いing till one of us wasn't able to get up at all. We hadn't no gloves. 明らかにする knuckles don't 揺さぶる like the mitts, but they 削減（する） and bruise. It's hard to knock out a 堅い man in good 条件 with one lick or half a dozen licks of your 明らかにする maulers. You got to plumb butcher him.

They was few 予選s. Ballerin 丸天井d into the （犯罪の）一味, kicked his stool through the ropes, and yelled, "攻撃する，衝突する that gong, Wu Shang!" Wu Shang 攻撃する，衝突する it, and Ballerin come for me like a cross between a bucking bronco and a 中国 台風.

We met in the 中心 of the （犯罪の）一味 like a 雷鳴-clap, and his first lick 分裂（する） my left cauliflower, and my first clout laid his jaw open to the bone. After that it was 虐殺（する） and 大虐殺.

There wasn't nothing fancy about our 戦う／戦いing. It was toe to toe, and breast to breast, 明らかにする knuckles crunching against muscle and bone. Before the first 一連の会議、交渉／完成する was over we was slipping in smears of our own 血. In the second Ballerin nearly fractured my jaw with a 炎ing left hook that stretched me on the 床に打ち倒す. But I was up and slugging like mad at the bell. We begun the third by 急ぐing from our corners with such fury that we had a 長，率いる-on 衝突／不一致 which 捨てるd us both to the boards nigh senseless. Ballerin's scalp was laid open, and my 長，率いる had a bump on it as big as a egg. The Chineses 叫び声をあげるd with amazement, seeing us both writhing on the 床に打ち倒す, but we staggered up about the same time and begun swinging at each other when Wu Shang got 動揺させるd and 攻撃する，衝突する the gong.

AT THE BEGINNING of the fourth I started 砲撃するing Ballerin's 中央の-section whilst he 続けざまに猛撃するd my 長，率いる till my ears was （犯罪の）一味ing like all the ship bells in Frisco harbor, and the 血 got in my 注目する，もくろむs till I couldn't see and was hitting by instinct. I could hear him gasping and panting as my アイロンをかける maulers sunk deeper and deeper into his 苦しむing belly, and finally, with a maddened roar, he grappled me and throwed me, and, setting astraddle of me, begun 続けざまに猛撃するing my 長，率いる against the boards, to the 広大な／多数の／重要な glee of his 軍人s.

As Wu Shang seemed inclined to let that 一連の会議、交渉／完成する go on forever, I 訴える手段／行楽地d to some longshoreman 策略 myself, kicked lustily in the 支援する of the 長，率いる, arched my 団体／死体 and throwed him off of me, and pasted him beautifully in the 注目する，もくろむ as he riz.

This 減ずるd his 利用できる sight by half, and didn't 改善する his temper 非，不，無, as he 証明するd by giving vent to a screech like a steam whistle, and letting go a ハリケーン swing that caught me under the ear and wafted me across the （犯罪の）一味 into the ropes. Them 存在 too loose, I continued my flight unchecked and lit headfirst in the （競技場の）トラック一周s of the 兵士s outside.

I riz and started to climb 支援する through the ropes, やむを得ず tromping on my 犠牲者s as I done so, and one would've stabbed me with his bayonnet by way of 報復 if I hadn't thoughtfully kicked him in the jaw first. Then I seen Ballerin crouching at the ropes, grinning ひどく at me as he dripped 血 and 重さを計るd his 抱擁する 握りこぶしs, and I seen his 意向 of socking me as I clumb through. I said, "Get 支援する from them ropes and let me in, you scum of the bilge!"

"That's up to you, you 勝利，勝つd-jamming 粗野な人間!" he laughed 残酷に. So I 突然に reached through the ropes and grabbed his ankle and 捨てるd him on his neck, and before he could rise, I was 支援する in the （犯罪の）一味. He riz ravening, and just then Wu Shang decided to 攻撃する，衝突する the gong.

At the beginning of the fifth we （機の）カム together and slugged till we was blind and deaf and dizzy, and when we finally heard the gong, we dropped in our 跡をつけるs and lay there 味方する by 味方する, gasping for breath, till the gong 発表するd the 開始 of the sixth, and we riz up and started in where we'd left off.

We was 交流ing lefts and 権利s like a あられ／賞賛する 嵐／襲撃する when he brung one up from the 床に打ち倒す so 急速な／放蕩な I never seen it coming. The first part of me that 攻撃する，衝突する the boards was the 支援する of my 長，率いる, and it nigh 洞穴d in the 床に打ち倒す. I riz and tore into him, slugging with frenzied abandon, and 乱打するd him 支援する across the （犯罪の）一味, but I was so blind I 行方不明になるd him as he 味方する-stepped, and fell into the ropes, and he 粉砕するd me three times behind the ear, and then, as I wheeled groggily, he caught me square on the button with a most awful 権利 swing. Wham! I don't remember 落ちるing, but I must of, because the next thing I knowed I was 負かす／撃墜する on the boards and Ballerin was stomping in my ribs with his boots. Away off I could hear Wu Shang banging his gong, but Ballerin give no 注意する, and I felt myself slipping into dreamland.

Then my 血-もやd gaze, wandering at 無作為の, 残り／休憩（する）d on General Yun in his （軍の）野営地，陣営 議長，司会を務める. He smiled at me grimly, and that half-naked Chinaman behind him drawed a 広大な／多数の／重要な curved sword and run his thumb along the 辛勝する／優位.

With a howl of desperation I 安定したd my tottering brain, and I fought my way to my feet in spite of all Ballerin could do, and I pasted him with a left that tore his ear nearly off his 長，率いる, and he went reeling into the ropes. He come 支援する with a roar and a tremendous clout that 行方不明になるd me and 後援d one of the （犯罪の）一味 地位，任命するs, and I heaved my 権利 under his heart with all my beef behind it. I heard a couple of his ribs 割れ目 under it, and I follered it with a ハリケーン of lefts and 権利s that drove him staggering before me like a ship in a 台風. A 雷鳴ing 権利 to the 長，率いる bent him 支援する over the ropes, and then, just as I was setting myself for the finisher, I felt somebody jerking my pants 脚 and heard Soapy hollering to me まっただ中に the roar of the 暴徒, "Steve! Ballerin's got fifty ライフル銃／探して盗むs trained on you 権利 now. If you 減少（する） him, you'll never leave that （犯罪の）一味 alive."

I SHOOK THE 血 outa my 注目する，もくろむs and cast a desperate glare over my shoulder. The 前線 階級s of General Feng's 軍人s still leaned on their ライフル銃／探して盗むs, but behind 'em I caught a 微光 of 黒人／ボイコット muzzles.

Ballerin pitched off the ropes, swinging a wild overhand 権利 that 行方不明になるd by a yard, and he would of 宙返り／暴落するd to the boards if I hadn't grabbed him and held him up.

"What'm I goin' to do?" I howled. "If I don't 減少（する） him, Yun Chei'll 削減（する） off my 長，率いる, and if I do, his men'll shoot me!"

"立ち往生させる, Steve!" begged Soapy. "Keep it up as long as you can; somethin' might happen any minute now."

I cast a ちらりと見ること at the sun, and sweated with despair. But I held Ballerin up as long as I dared, and then I 押し進めるd him away from me and swung wide at him. He reeled and I tried to catch him, but he pitched 直面する-first, and I ducked as I heard a click of ライフル銃／探して盗む bolts. But he was trying to climb up again, and I never hoped to see a 対抗者 rise like I hoped to see him rise. He grabbed the ropes and 運ぶ／漁獲高d hisself up, and 星／主役にするd around, one 注目する，もくろむ の近くにd and t'other glassy.

He was out on his feet, but his fighting instinct kept him going. He come 失敗ing out into the （犯罪の）一味, swinging blind, and I swung wide, but he fell into it somehow, and I 攻撃する，衝突する him in spite of myself. Soapy give a lamentable howl, and Ballerin pitched 支援する into the ropes, and I was on him and locked him in a despairing しっかり掴む before he could 落ちる. He was dead 負わせる in my 武器, out 冷淡な, his 脚s dragging, and I was so 近づく out myself I wondered how long I couldst 持つ／拘留する him up. Over his shoulder I see General Yun looking at me impatient; even a Chinese revolutionist could see that was ready for the cleaners. But I held on; if I let go, I knowed Ballerin wouldn't get up again, and his men would start 的 practice on me.

Then above the noise of the （人が）群がる I heard a low roar. I looked out over their 長，率いるs, and beyond the 山の尾根 of a distant hill something come 急に上がるing. It was a airplane, and nobody but me had seen it. I 格闘するd my limp 犠牲者 to the ropes, and gasped the news to Soapy. He was too smart to look, but he hissed, "Keep stallin'! 持つ／拘留する him up! The 連邦のs have sent a 計画（する） to our 救助（する）! Everything's jake!"

General Yun had got 怪しげな. He jumped up and shook his 握りこぶし at me, and hollered, and his derned executioner grinned and drawed his sword again—and then, with a 急ぐ and zoom, the airplane 急襲するd 負かす／撃墜する on us like a 強硬派. Everybody looked up and yelled, and as it passed 権利 over the （犯罪の）一味, I seen something 宙返り／暴落する from it and flash in the sun. And Soapy yelled, "Look out! There's a dragon painted on it! That ain't a 連邦の 計画（する）—that's Whang Shan!"

I throwed Ballerin bodily over the ropes as far as I could heave him, and div after him, and the next instant—blam!—the （犯罪の）一味 went up in smoke, and pieces flew every which way.

BOMBS WAS FALLING and 衝突，墜落ing and テントs going sky-high, and men yelling and 狙撃 and running and 落ちるing over each other, and the roar of that cussed 計画（する） was in my ears as I 長，率いるd for the tall 木材／素質. I was ばく然と aware that Soapy was legging it と一緒に me, hollering, "That Chinaman of 地雷 never went to the 連邦のs, the dirty ネズミ! I see it all now! He was one of Whang Shan's 秘かに調査するs. No wonder he was so anxious to help! He 手配中の，お尋ね者 my horse—hey, Steve! This way!"

I seen Soapy do a running dive into General Yun's 自動車, which was setting in 前線 of his テント, and I follered him. We went roaring away just as a 爆弾 攻撃する，衝突する where the car had been a second before, and spattered us with dirt. I dunno where General Yun was, though I caught a glimpse of a silk-式服d 人物／姿／数字, which might of been him, scudding for the hills.

We went through that （軍の）野営地，陣営 like a トルネード，竜巻, with all hell popping behind us. Whang was sure giving his enemies the 作品 in that one 計画（する） of his'n. They was such punk 発射s they couldn't 攻撃する，衝突する him with their ライフル銃／探して盗むs, and all he had to do was heave 爆弾s into the 厚い of 'em.

I don't remember much about that ride. Soapy was hanging to the wheel and 押し進めるing the accelerator through the 床に打ち倒す, and I was 持つ／拘留するing の上に the seat and trying to stay with the derned （手先の）技術 which was bucking over that awful road like a skiff in a squall. Presently we 攻撃する，衝突する a bump that throwed me clean over the seat into the 支援する, and when I come up for 空気／公表する I had something clutched in my 手渡す, at the sight of which I give a yell of joy—and bit my tongue savagely as we 攻撃する，衝突する another bump.

I clumb 支援する into the 前線 seat like I was はうing along the cross-trees of the main-mast in a 台風, and tried to tell Soapy what I'd 設立する, but we was going so 急速な／放蕩な the 勝利，勝つd blowed the words clean outa my mouth.

It wasn't till we had dropped 負かす／撃墜する out of the higher hills along about sundown and was coasting along a comparatively better road amongst fields and mud huts that I got a chance to catch my breath.

"I 設立する your letter," I said. "It was in the 底（に届く） of the car. It must of slipped outa my pocket whilst I was tied up."

"Read it to me," he requested, and I said, "Wait till I see is my watch 損なわれていない. I didn't get my thousand bucks for lickin' Ballerin, and I want to be sure I got somethin, for goin' through what I been through."

So I looked at the watch, which must of been 価値（がある） five hundred dollars anyway, and it was unscratched, so I opened the letter and read:

"Ormond and Ashley, 弁護士／代理人／検事s at 法律, San Francisco, California, U. S. A. Dear Mister Jackson: This is to 知らせる you that you are 存在 告訴するd by Mrs. J. A. Lynch for a nine months board 法案, 量ing to 正確に／まさに—"

Soapy give a ear-splitting yell and wrenched the wheel over.

"What you doin', you idjit?" I howled, as the car r'ared and skidded and lurched around like a skiff in a tide-引き裂く.

"I'm goin' 支援する to Yun Chei!" he screeched. "My 期待s is 破産した／（警察が）手入れする! I thought I was a heiress, but I'm still a bum! I ain't got the—"

衝突，墜落! We left the road, rammed a tree, and went into a perfect tailspin.

The evening shadders was 落ちるing as I はうd out from under the 破片 and untangled one of the wheels from around my neck. I looked about for Soapy's remains, and seen 'em setting on a 破産した／（警察が）手入れするd headlight, brooding somberly.

"You might at least ask if I'm 傷つける," I said resentfully.

"What of it?" he asked 激しく. "We're 廃虚d. I ain't got no fortune."

"I was 廃虚d when I first met a hoodoo like you," I said ひどく. "Anyway, I still got Yun Chei's watch." And I reached into my pocket. And then I gave a poignant shriek. That watch must of 吸収するd the whole 揺さぶる of the 粉砕する. I had a handful of metal 捨てるs and wheels and springs which nobody could tell was they meant for a watch or what. Thereafter, a 人物／姿／数字 might have been seen flitting through the twilight, hotly 追求するd by another, bulkier 人物／姿／数字, breathing 脅しs of vengeance, in the general direction of the coast.

THE END

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