TOO FAT TO FIGHT [Illustration] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BOOKS BY REX BEACH THE WINDS OF CHANCE LAUGHING BILL HYDE RAINBOW’S END THE CRIMSON GARDENIA AND OTHER TALES OF ADVENTURE HEART OF THE SUNSET THE AUCTION BLOCK THE IRON TRAIL THE NET THE NE’ER-DO-WELL THE SPOILERS THE BARRIER THE SILVER HORDE GOING SOME ------- HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK [ESTABLISHED 1817] [Illustration: “PLATTSBURG. ONE WAY”] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOO FAT TO FIGHT _By_ REX BEACH _Author of_ “THE WINDS OF CHANCE” ETC. _with Illustrations by_ T. D. SKIDMORE [Illustration] Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOO FAT TO FIGHT Copyright, 1919, by Harper & Brothers Printed in the United States of America Published January, 1919 A-T ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. “PLATTSBURG. ONE WAY” 11 II. DIMPLES TRIES THE Y. M. C. A. 22 III. “ONE MAN TO EVERY TEN!” 39 IV. HILL TWO EIGHTY-FIVE 43 V. DIMPLES TAKES PART IN A CEREMONY 47 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILLUSTRATIONS “PLATTSBURG. ONE WAY” _Frontispiece_ OCCASIONALLY HE ORDERED HIS FAVORITE DISH, CORN-STARCH PUDDING _Facing p._ 24 HE HAD GAINED A POUND! “ 28 A ROTUND, MIRTH-PROVOKING SPECTACLE IN HIS BULGING UNIFORM, WITH HIS TINY OVERSEAS CAP SET ABOVE HIS ROUND, RED FACE LIKE THE CALYX OF A HUGE RIPE BERRY “ 42 ------------------------------------------------------------------------