empt the initial blow.

"Keep back, now! Don' crowd me," ominously said Pete.

Again they chorused in contempt. "Oh, hell!"

In a small, tossing group, the three men edged for positions like
frigates contemplating battle.

"Well, why deh hell don' yeh try teh t'row us out?" cried Jimmie and
his ally with copious sneers.

The bravery of bull-dogs sat upon the faces of the men. Their clenched
fists moved like eager weapons.

The allied two jostled the bartender's elbows, glaring at him with
feverish eyes and forcing him toward the wall.

Suddenly Pete swore redly. The flash of action gleamed from his eyes.
He threw back his arm and aimed a tremendous, lightning-like blow at
Jimmie's face. His foot swung a step forward and the weight of his
body was behind his fist. Jimmie ducked his head, Bowery-like, with
the quickness of a cat. The fierce, answering blows of him and his
ally crushed on Pete's bowed head.

The quiet stranger vanished.

The arms of the combatants whirled in the air like flails. The faces
of the men, at first flushed to flame-colored anger, now began to fade
to the pallor of warriors in the blood and heat of a battle. Their
lips curled back and stretched tightly over the gums in ghoul-like
grins. Through their white, gripped teeth struggled hoarse whisperings
of oaths. Their eyes glittered with murderous fire.

Each head was huddled between its owner's shoulders, and arms were
swinging with marvelous rapidity. Feet scraped to and fro with a loud
scratching sound upon the sanded floor. Blows left crimson blotches
upon pale skin. The curses of the first quarter minute of the fight
died away. The breaths of the fighters came wheezingly from their lips
and the three chests were straining and heaving. Pete at intervals
gave vent to low, labored hisses, that sounded like a desire to kill.
Jimmie's ally gibbered at times like a wounded maniac. Jimmie was
silent, fighting with the face of a sacrificial priest. The rage of
fear shone in all their eyes and their blood-colored fists swirled.

At a tottering moment a blow from Pete's hand struck the ally and he
crashed to the floor. He wriggled instantly to his feet and grasping
the quiet stranger's beer glass from the bar, hurled it at Pete's head.

High on the wall it burst like a bomb, shivering fragments flying in
all directions. Then missiles came to every man's hand. The place had
heretofore appeared free of things to throw, bu