“I’ll bet a round for the crowd that Tapper puts him down and out within three minutes!” cried one. “I will go you!” instantly exclaimed Skip Billings. Without any formality the contestants met and began to spar. The stranger assumed a correct position and easily warded off the leads of his opponent when Mullin started without delay to press the contest. Round and round they went, ducking, dodging, and parrying. “Get into him, Tapper!” urged the man who had offered to bet on him. “You’re wasting time!” Mullin heeded this adjuration and attempted to press his opponent. The tramp, however, was astonishingly catlike on his feet, and Tapper could not get in a telling blow. At length the hobo broke through the other fellow’s guard and gave him a severe jolt on the chin. “That’s it! that’s it!” cried Billings, in satisfaction. “You reached him that time!” This blow angered Mullin, who opened up furiously. Twice he touched the stranger, but the blows were too light to be effective. Then he received a thump in the ribs that brought a groan from his lips. Faster and fiercer grew the contest. The spectators shouted their delight. Suddenly the tramp landed on Tapper’s mouth and split his lip, starting the blood. Bingo McCord whistled his surprise. “It’s an even match,” he declared. “Tapper will have to scratch gravel.” Mullin was intensely annoyed by his failure to get in an effective blow. This annoyance led him to give several openings, and finally he received a jolt that sent him to the floor. Billings actually danced in delight. “I told you!” he whooped. Mullin scrambled up, his eyes glaring with fury. The moment he was on his feet he made a rush. The stranger side-stepped and banged his opponent on the ribs. The blow seemed to stop Mullin in his tracks. His hands dropped a little, and an instant later he received a right-hander on the jaw that once more sent him flat. This did not end the contest, however, for Tapper was not seriously hurt. He rose slowly, but rushed again as soon as he was on his feet. This time he swung twice and then attempted to clinch. His blows were avoided, and the stranger seized him about the waist and gave him a whirling flop into the air. Mullin came down in the same heavy fashion as Billings had fallen. “Foul! foul!” cried several. “Excuse me!” exclaimed the stranger. “I didn’t know any particular rules were mentioned.” A discussion arose that was stopped by McCord, who agreed with the hobo that no rules had been mentioned, and, therefore, no rules had been broken. By this time Tapper was up once more. Although he had been jolted severely he would not quit. “Give him all that’s coming,” urged Skip Billings, in the tramp’s ear. “He won’t crow over me after this.”