As Locke spoke, his voice was calm and steady. “And you engaged a pair of worthy pals to assist you! You’re a brave man, Skullen!”
“Aw, these lads are only here to see fair play, that’s all. They won’t mix in. They won’t have to. Last time we met you reckoned you put it all over me, didn’t you? Maybe I ought to thank you for keepin’ me from gettin’ a rotter on me hands, for that’s what you got in Dummy Jones. You’re welcome to that piece of cheese.”
The southpaw made no retort. He was measuring his chances against all three of the ruffians, having no doubt that he must soon find himself pitted against such odds.
“Some baseball manager, that’s what you are!” scoffed Mit, taking keen delight in prolonging the suspense that he fancied must be getting the nerve of the intended victim. “You’re rattlin’ around like a buckshot inside a bass drum. A busy little person, you are, but you won’t be so busy after I finish with you. You’ll find it convenient to take a nice long rest in a hospital.”
“You fight a lot with your mouth, Mit,” said Locke contemptuously.
“Go ahead an’ sail inter him, Skully,” urged the ruffian who looked like a broken-down prize fighter. “You been itchin’ fer him to show up so you could get inter action. Go to it!”
“Plenty of time, Bill. I enjoy seein’ him try to push that door down with his back. Wasn’t he a mut to walk right into this? I’m goin’ to change the look of his face so that his handsome wife won’t know him when she sees him next.”
He began to remove his coat, and Lefty knew the time for action had come. For an instant his imagination had sought to unnerve him by presenting a vivid picture of himself as he would appear, battered, bleeding, beaten up, if the trio of thugs carried out their evil design; but he put the vision aside promptly. In cases where a smaller force is compelled to contend with a greater, the advantage is frequently obtained through swift and sudden assault. Knowing this, Locke did not wait to be attacked. He hurled himself forward with the spring of a panther and the force of a catapult.