he
had licked him right and made him quit. He said the gent finally fled,
going through the little swinging doors with such force that they kept
swinging for three minutes afterward. So now is the time for him to come
up and have another go at Ben.

Of course he ain't superstitious, but it does seem like Providence has
taken this means of pointing out the time to him. But he is in reduced
circumstances at this moment, owing to complications it would take too
long to explain; so will I lend him about two hundred and fifty dollars
to make the trip on? And he will have Ben off his mind forever and be
able to settle down to some life work. Just as sane as ever--Ed was.

I sent the letter to Ben, not wishing him to rest in false security.
But I wrote Ed firmly that I couldn't see my money's worth in his
proposition. I told him Ben was keeping in splendid condition, having
the glow of health in his cheeks and a grip like an osteopath, and I'd
be darned if I was going to back a three-time loser in the same old
fight. I said he wasn't the only sensitive person in the world. I was
a little fussy myself about what people might think of my judgment. And
I gave him some good advice which was to forget his nonsense and settle
down to something permanent before he died of penury.

He wrote a kind, forgiving answer. He said he couldn't blame me for
turning against him after his repeated failures to lick Ben, but his
nature was one I should never understand. He said he would amass the
money by slow grinding toil, and when he next come North and got through
handling Ben I would be the very first to grasp him by the hand and
confess that I had wronged him. It was as nutty a letter as Ed ever
wrote; which is some tribute. I sent it on to Ben and I believe it was
right after that he ordered one of these exercising machines put up in
his bedroom, with a book showing how to become a Greek god by pulling
the weights five minutes, morning and evening.

But this time come silence so long that I guess even Ben forgot he had
a doom hanging above his head by a single hair. I know I did. Let's
see. It must of been a good five years before I hear from Ed again. It
was another hard-luck letter. He had just worked a whole season for a
contractor that blew up and left him with one span of mules in place of
his summer's wages; which was a great disappointment, because he had been
looking forward to an active reunion with Ben. How was Ben, anyway? An