The Kid rushed again, landing left and right to the head. The Bearcat wobbled. The Kid stepped back, measured his man, and sent a right to the body. The Bearcat's hands dropped to his side. The Kid drove a terrific blow to the jaw, and the Bearcat crashed over on his back, completely out.
The official version does not say that when the Bearcat prostrated himself in dreamless slumber he did so with his head lying at the feet of Aunt Caroline, who drew aside her skirts with housewifely instinct and stared down at his battered, yet peaceful countenance. The Bearcat never slept more soundly in his life; so profound was his oblivion that Aunt Caroline, in her inexperience, thought he was dead.
She looked up and saw a stout man waving an arm up and down and counting. She saw Signor Antonio Valentino, poised and panting, waiting in vain for the Bearcat to rise again. Beyond she saw, through a haze of smoke, the faces of strange men. None of these persons whom she saw as yet appeared to be aware of her own presence, or that of Bill Marshall, who was now staring over her shoulder. They were all too utterly absorbed in the slumberous bliss of this young man from Trenton.
"Ten!" said the stout man triumphantly, as though it were an achievement to count as high as ten.
Then he seized Kid Whaley's right arm and held it high in air. There was a hoarse roar of joy from the crowd. Two young men whose bodies from the waist up were clad in sleeveless jerseys rushed forward and hugged the Kid deliriously. They upset a bucket of water in their agitation, and it flowed across the parquetry, to mingle with the powdered rosin. Two other young men, similarly attired, sprang into the picture, seized the Trenton Bearcat by the heels and dragged him into an open space, where they could more readily lay hands upon him.
And then everybody at once—except, of course, the Bearcat—seemed to observe Aunt Caroline Marshall, standing in the doorway. They froze and watched. Slowly she raised a finger until it pointed at the breast of the Kid.
"Murderer!" she cried.
The Kid blinked in amazement.
"Murderer!"