e
a twist to the coat collar noose that made Reade turn black in the face
from choking.

"Ah might as well tell yo'," Sambo observed dryly, "dat yo' ain't done
got no new fight tricks dat yo' can wish on me. Ah done seen all de
tricks of fightin' dat any man done know, an' Ah nebber yet seen no man
dat could put any kind oh a blow ober on me to hurt!"

The negro spoke boastfully, yet there could be no doubt that he believed
all he said.

Tom Reade next schemed to land a hard kick against the negro's shins. Ere
he had his foot well lifted, however, the watchful Sambo seemed to divine
the intent. He gave a quick twist at the coat collar that made Reade's
head swim. It was some time before the young engineer's head recovered
from that sudden confusion and blackness.

"Am' yo' gwine beliebe dat yo' kain't wish no kind oh a trick ober on me?"
demanded the black man in an injured tone. "Ah nebber seen no odder w'ite
man dat had such a ha'd time beliebing w'at Ah done tole him!"

"I've got to land this wicked brute, some way, or I may as well conclude
that the jig is danced through, as far as I am concerned," Reade thought
ruefully.

Panting, quivering, in dread of being choked again, and much harder, Tom
tried to think fast in the effort to devise some new plan for worsting
this terrible opponent.

"I've been fooling myself all along," Tom told himself, with a sinking
heart. "I've been up against several men who were too weak or too cowardly
to fight, and I've somehow gained the opinion that I could fight. But
this black fellow has taken all the conceit out of me. I was a fool ever
to think that I could fight! I'm nothing but a piece of jelly---or putty!"

Of a sudden Reade tried to wrench himself free at the collar, at the same
time raising his right knee with a forceful jerk. He wanted to drive that
knee into the black man's wind.

But Sambo seemed to guess the plan without trouble. He gave a twist that
choked Tom, once more, until all went black before him. Then the negro
slammed his victim down hard on the ground, well-nigh stunning the young
engineer.

"Ah done see w'at Ah gotta do wid yo'," Sambo announced. "Ah gotta tie
yo' up, load yo' pockets wid rocks, and den take yo' out in de Gulf ah'
lose yo'! Dat's w'at Ah gotta do, an' Ah ain' gwine lose no time about
it either."

Sambo was in earnest, too. He had mapped out that very course!

CHAPTER XV

A DAVID FOR A GOLIATH

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