Moon waited a w’ile before he spoke.
“Would you guarantee to hold the match in America?” he says.
“Either here or in London,” says Crawley.
“They’s no fever in London?” says Moon.
“I should say not!” says Crawley.
“Well,” says Moon, “if I can hold the Cubans off one more day I’ll consider it. I could meet you tomorrow and you could deposit your check.”
“That suits us,” says Crawley, and they shook hands and left.
Larry joined us in the other room and ordered drinks all round.
“You boys done fine!” he says to the two seniors. “Here’s the rest of your hundred apiece and I’m much obliged.”
“Will we send you these clothes?” says Senior Lopez.
“No,” says Larry. “You keep them for the next big fight.”
“And how about your check?” says Lopez.
“Try and cash it!” says Larry.
“That’s over,” he says, when they’d went. “The next thing is to land Charley Riggs.”
“What for?” says I.
“Why, to promote this match,” said Larry. “He’s the guy I’ve been after all the time, the only guy that’s big enough to put it over. But I didn’t dast go after him without something to show. When he sees that these birds is willing to put up half a million fish he’ll know it’s big enough for him.”
“But how are you going to shake them out?” I asked.
“I don’t care if they’re shook out or not, as long as he’s in,” says Moon. “But you can bet they’ll be glad enough to take him in as partner, and that’s all I want. When I get him we’re set!”
Well, as you know, he got him, and it wasn’t no job to shake the other two out. When they talked five hundred thousand, they was over their heads. And when they begin thinking about expenses, and the conversation got up round a million, they was sunk.
VI
It was early spring when I run acrost Larry again.
“I been wanting to see you,” he says. “What are you going to be doing in June?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Just loafing, I guess.”
“Well,” he said, “would you mind doing your loafing at our camp?”
“What camp?” I asked him.
“Wherever we train,” he says. “Somewheres near New York, I suppose.”
“Where are you going to fight?” I asked.
“In Jersey,” he says. “They’s nowheres else we can. We got to be near the Big Town to get the money.”
“How about all them offers?” I says.
“Oh, you mean the ones that’s been in the papers?” said Moon. “Wasn’t those a hit? A million dollars from Nugget, Nevada! Why, if a guy showed a nickel in that town, the whole twelve that lives there would blackjack him at once!”
“What do you want of me?” I said.
“Jim needs sparring partners,” says Larry.
“I may look goofy to you,” I said, “but I pass for all right round home.”
“I was kidding,” said Larry. “What Jim wants is somebody he can talk to and play rummy with. It’s going to be a lonesome time for him and I don’t know if he can stand it or not. But he likes you and having you there once in a w’ile would be a help.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll keep him company part of the time.”
“You know,” says Larry, “even the wise birds thinks this is easy money for Jim. But it’s going to be about the toughest money anybody ever earned.”
“What do you mean?” I says. “You don’t think the Frenchman has a chance!”
“Don’t be silly!” says Larry. “That’s just the point. If it was like the Wheeler thing, where the guy was a big hulk that it might take some trouble to topple him over, why training for it wouldn’t be such a grind. Jim would say to himself, ‘Well, I guess I can lick him all right, but he’s big and I better be in good shape. Because he might ⸻’ You know how it was that time. But this is different. Here’s a guy that may be the greatest man in the world for his size. But look at his size and yet Jim’s got to go ahead and work like he done for Wheeler. Even harder, because they’s a lot more interest in this and people’ll be watching us close. Jim could get ready in a week to knock this bird cold. But he’s got to go through with five or six weeks of the toughest kind of work, which he knows ain’t necessary. I’ve tried to convince him that they might be an upset. But he knows it’s the bunk.”
“Well,” I said, “if I haven’t nothing better to do I’ll come round and try and keep him entertained. But personally, I don’t know no work I wouldn’t be glad to stick at for five weeks, not at them kind of wages.”
VII
I landed in Jim’s camp the second week in June. The day I got there he boxed with three of his partners. Two of them was big boys and he flattened them both.
We was all alone that evening and he opened up his heart.
“Goulet’s got the right idear,” he says: “Secret training. I wished we could pull that. My training would be such a secret that I wouldn’t even find out about it myself. But Larry says no. I’ve got to show the boys I’m working so they won’t think it’s a farce. Like it wasn’t a farce already! Anyway it is for me—punching the bag and shadow boxing and skipping the rope. You ain’t got no idear how cute I feel skipping a rope! I suppose I ought to thank God they don’t make me roll a hoop or dress dolls. But even skipping a rope ain’t as bad as boxing with those heels! If I try not to hit them, the crowd thinks I ain’t giving them a run for their
