IV. MR. ABRAHAMS RE-ENGAGES AN OLD EMPLOYEE

1

The only real happiness, we are told, is to be obtained by bringing
happiness to others. Bugs Butler's mood, accordingly, when some thirty
hours after the painful episode recorded in the last chapter he awoke
from a state of coma in the ring at Jersey City to discover that Mr. Lew
Lucas had knocked him out in the middle of the third round, should have
been one of quiet contentment. His inability to block a short left-hook
followed by a right to the point of the jaw had ameliorated quite a
number of existences.

Mr. Lew Lucas, for one, was noticeably pleased. So were Mr. Lucas's
seconds, one of whom went so far as to kiss him. And most of the crowd,
who had betted heavily on the champion, were delighted. Yet Bugs Butler
did not rejoice. It is not too much to say that his peevish bearing
struck a jarring note in the general gaiety. A heavy frown disfigured
his face as he slouched from the ring.

But the happiness which he had spread went on spreading. The two Wise
Guys, who had been unable to attend the fight in person, received the
result on the ticker and exuberantly proclaimed themselves the richer
by five hundred dollars. The pimpled office-boy at the Fillmore Nicholas
Theatrical Enterprises Ltd. caused remark in the Subway by whooping
gleefully when he read the news in his morning paper, for he, too, had
been rendered wealthier by the brittleness of Mr. Butler's chin. And
it was with fierce satisfaction that Sally, breakfasting in her little
apartment, informed herself through the sporting page of the details of
the contender's downfall. She was not a girl who disliked many people,
but she had acquired a lively distaste for Bugs Butler.

Lew Lucas seemed a man after her own heart. If he had been a personal
friend of Ginger's he could not, considering the brief time at his
disposal, have avenged him with more thoroughness. In round one he had
done all sorts of diverting things to Mr. Butler's left eye: in round
two he had continued the good work on that gentleman's body; and in
round three he had knocked him out. Could anyone have done more? Sally
thought not, and she drank Lew Lucas's health in a cup of coffee and
hoped his old mother was proud of him.

The telephone bell rang at her elbow. She unhooked the receiver.

"Hullo?"

"Oh, hullo," said a voice.

"Ginger!" cried Sally delightedly.

"I say, I'm awfully glad you're back. I only got your letter