iosity at
the crowd; they were all strangers to him.

The cards and quoits were dropped as the boxer entered the ring. It
was Paddy Flynn himself, a retired pugilist, with the face and neck of
a bull, wearing a sweater and sandshoes, his arms and legs bared to
show the enormous muscles of the ancient athlete. He threw the kip and
the pennies into the centre, and took his place on a low seat at the
head of the ring.

The gaffers scrambled for places, wedged in a compact circle, the
spectators standing behind them to advise or take a hand as occasion
offered. Chook looked at the kip, a flat piece of wood, the size of a
butter-pat, and the two pennies, blackened on the tail and polished on
the face. A gaffer stepped into the ring and picked them up.

"A dollar 'eads! A dollar tails! 'Arf a dollar 'eads!" roared the
gamblers, making their bets.

"Get set!--get set!" cried the boxer, lolling in his seat with a
nonchalant air; and in a twinkling a bright heap of silver lay in front
of each player, the wagers made with the gaffers opposite. The spinner
handed his stake of five shillings to the boxer, who cried "Fair go!"

The spinner placed the two pennies face down on the kip, and then, with
a turn of the wrist, the coins flew twenty feet into the air. For a
second there was a dead silence, every eye following the fall of the
coins. One fell flat, the other rolled on its edge, every neck craned
to follow its movements. One head and one tail lay in the ring.

"Two ones!" cried the boxer; and the stakes remained untouched.

The spinner tossed the coins again, and, as they fell, the gaffers
cried "Two heads!"

"Two heads," repeated the boxer, with the decision of a judge.

The next moment a shower of coins flew like spray across the ring; the
tails had paid their dollars to the winning heads. Three times the
spinner threw heads, and the pile of silver in front of Chook grew
larger. Then Chook, who was watching the spinner, noticed that he
fumbled the pennies slightly as he placed them on the kip. Success had
shaken his nerve, and instantly Chook changed his cry to "A dollar
tails--a dollar tails!"

The coins spun into the air with a nervous jerk, and fell with the two
black tails up. The spinner threw down the kip, and took his winnings
from the boxer--five pounds for himself and ten shillings for the boxer.

As another man took the kip, the boxer glared at the winning players.
"How is it?" he cried wit