unds.
Chook tossed a pound to him for commission. He acknowledged it with a
grunt, and looking round the ring at the winning players cried out "How
is it?--how is it?" With his other winnings Chook had over fifteen
pounds in his pocket, and he decided to go, although the night was
young. As he went to the stairs, the boxer cried out, "No one to leave
for five minutes!" following the custom when a big winner left the
room, to prevent a swarm of cadgers, lug-biters, and spielers begging a
tram fare, a bed, a cup of coffee from the winner. When Chook reached
the top of the staircase, the G.P.O. clock began to strike, and Chook
stopped to listen, for he had forgotten the lapse of time. He counted
the last stroke, eleven, and then, as if it had been a signal, came the
sound of voices and a noise of hammering from the front door. The next
moment the doorkeeper ran up the narrow staircase crying "The Johns are
here!"

For a moment the crowd of gamblers stared, aghast; then the look of
trapped animals came into their faces, and with the noise of
splintering wood below, they made a rush at the money on the floor.
The boxer ran swearing into the ring to hide the kip and the pennies,
butting with his bull shoulders against a mob of frenzied gaffers mad
with fear and greed, grabbing at any coins they could reach in despair
of finding their own. The news spread like fire. The school was
surrounded by a hundred policemen in plain clothes and uniform; every
outlet from the alley was watched and guarded. A cold scorn of the
police filled Chook's mind. For months the school ran unmolested, and
then a raid was planned in the spirit of sportsmen arranging a drive of
rabbits for a day's outing. This raid meant capture by the police, an
ignominious procession two by two to the lock-up, a night in the cells
unless bail was found, and a fine and a lecture from the magistrate in
the morning. To some it meant more. To the bank clerk it meant the
sack; to the cashier who was twenty pounds short in his cash, an
examination of his books and discovery; to the spieler who was wanted
by the police, scrutiny by a hundred pair of official eyes.

The gaffers ran here and there bewildered, cursing and swearing in an
impotence of rage. Like trapped rats the men ran to the windows and
doors, but the room, fortified with iron bars and barbed wire, held
them like a trap. The boxer cried out that bail would be found for the
captured, but his bul