The Flying Dutchman was a young Swede who possessed an unwonted
willingness to fight and who was blessed with phenomenal endurance. He
never rested, was always on the offensive, and rushed and fought from
gong to gong. In the out-fighting his arms whirled about like flails,
in the in-fighting he was forever shouldering or half-wrestling and
starting blows whenever he could get a hand free. From start to finish
he was a whirlwind, hence his name. His failing was lack of judgment
in time and distance. Nevertheless he had won many fights by virtue of
landing one in each dozen or so of the unending fusillades of punches
he delivered. Pat, with strong upon him the caution that he must not
put his opponent out, was kept busy. Nor, though he escaped vital
damage, could he avoid entirely those eternal flying gloves. But it
was good training, and in a mild way he enjoyed the contest.
"Could you get him now?" Stubener whispered in his ear during the
minute rest at the end of the fifth round.
"Sure," was Pat's answer.
"You know he's never yet been knocked out by any one," Stubener warned
a couple of rounds later.
"Then I'm afraid I'll have to break my knuckles," Pat smiled. "I know
the punch I've got in me, and when I land it something's got to go. If
he won't, my knuckles will."
"Do you think you could get him now?" Stubener asked at the end of
the thirteenth round.
"Anytime, I tell you."
"Well, then, Pat, let him run to the fifteenth."
In the fourteenth round the Flying Dutchman exceeded himself. At the
stroke of the gong he rushed clear across the ring to the opposite
corner where Pat was leisurely getting to his feet. The house cheered,
for it knew the Flying Dutchman had cut loose. Pat, catching the
fun of it, whimsically decided to meet the terrific onslaught with
a wholly passive defense and not to strike a blow. Nor did he strike
a blow, nor feint a blow, during the three minutes of whirlwind that
followed. He gave a rare exhibition of stalling, sometimes hugging his
bowed face with his left arm, his abdomen with his right; at other
times, changing as the point of attack changed, so that both gloves
were held on either side his face, or both elbows and forearms guarded
his mid-section; and all the time moving about, clumsily shouldering,
or half-falling forward against his opponent and clogging his efforts;
himself never striking nor threatening to strike, the while rocking
with the impacts of the storming blows that beat upon his various
guards the devil's own tattoo.
Those close at the ringside saw and appreciated, but the rest of
the audience, fooled, arose to its feet and roared its applause in
the mistaken notion that Pat, helpless, was receiving a terrible
beating. With the end of the round, the audience, dumbfounded, sank
back into its seats as Pat walked steadily to his corner. It was not
understandable. He should have been beaten to a pulp, and yet nothing
had happened to him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account