The game . bottle still inverted. Thereferee shouted at him, and he fled thering, dropping the bottle as he fled. Itrolled over and over, the, water gurglingout upon the canvas till the referee, with THE GAME 165 a quick flirt of his toe, sent the bottlerolling through the ropes. In all the previous rounds Genevievehad not seen Joes fighting face whichhad been prefigured to her that morningin the department store. Sometimes hisface had been quite boyish; other times,when taking his fiercest punishment, it hadbeen bleak and gray; and still later, whenliving through and clutching and holdingon,
The game . bottle still inverted. Thereferee shouted at him, and he fled thering, dropping the bottle as he fled. Itrolled over and over, the, water gurglingout upon the canvas till the referee, with THE GAME 165 a quick flirt of his toe, sent the bottlerolling through the ropes. In all the previous rounds Genevievehad not seen Joes fighting face whichhad been prefigured to her that morningin the department store. Sometimes hisface had been quite boyish; other times,when taking his fiercest punishment, it hadbeen bleak and gray; and still later, whenliving through and clutching and holdingon, it had taken on a wistful now, out of danger himself and as heforced the fight, his fighting face cameupon him. She saw it and removed him so far from her. She hadthought she knew him, all of him, andheld him in the hollow of her hand ; butthis she did not know — this face of steel,this mouth of steel, these eyes of steelflashing the light and glitter of steel. It i66 THE GAME. seemed to her the pas-sionless face of anavenging angel, stampedonly with the purposeof the Lord. Ponta attemptedone of his old-time rushes, but wasstopped on themouth. Implacable,ent, ever menacing, never let-ting him rest, Joe followed him up. Theround, the thirteenth, closed with a rush,in Pontas corner. He attempted a rally,was brought to his knees, took the nineseconds count, and then tried to clinch intosafety, only to receive four of Joes terriblestomach punches, so that with the gonghe fell back, gasping, into the arms of hisseconds. msist- THE GAME 167 Joe ran across the ring to his owncorner. Now Im going to get m, he said tohis second. You sure fixed m that time, the latteranswered. Nothin to stop you now buta lucky punch. Watch out for it. Joe leaned forward, feet gathered underhim for a spring, like a foot-racer waitingthe start. He was waiting for the it sounded he shot forward andacross the ring, catching Ponta in the midstof his seconds as he rose f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1905
