Franks took his time, but he got up at nine. The crowd, backing Sankey now, screamed to him to go in and finish Franks. Sankey tottered out of his corner, swearing. Franks stood waiting for him, his lips in a thin line, looking like a killer. There was nothing the matter with him. He was as strong as when he started. As Sankey came on he called Franks every obscene name he could lay his tongue to.
Franks brushed aside his feeble guard and belted him in the ribs. It was an awful punch, landing solid in the church roof of Sankey’s chest. Sankey’s eyes rolled back. His mouth formed a large “O", then, as he fell forward, Franks whipped up a punch that came from his ankles to Sankey’s jaw.
It was a waste of the referee’s time to count. The crowd went mad. They yelled and hooted as the little guy’s arm ticked off the ten. Then, when he threw his arms wide and ran over to raise Franks’ glove, they stood on their seats and rattled the roof.
Dillon turned his head and looked at Gurney. His eyes smouldered. “The dirty, double-crossin’ sonofabitch,” he said through his teeth.
They all crowded into Butch’s shack. There was Gurney, Hank and Morgan. Sankey had gone home, too sullen and furious to come. Dillon shuffled along behind the others, savage and silent.
Butch was sitting in a dirty dressing-gown. His head was wrapped in a bandage. He sensed at once that Sankey had flopped when they came in.
Overhead, Myra could hear the uproar that was going on, and she came down the ladder to listen.
Dillon sat on the table, picking his teeth, while the others shouted and cursed. Butch was so mad, Gurney thought he’d have a stroke. He beat the arms of his chair again and again. “I put all I had on that punk,” he bawled; “now where am I?”
Dillon suddenly came to life. “Shut up, you rats!” he snarled. “Franks’s got more guts than the bunch of you rolled into one. What does it matter if you lost a little dough?”
There was a terrible silence, each man glaring at Dillon murderously. Butch said in a strangled voice, “You fixed that fight, huh? You ain’t losing any dough… an’ you talk like that?”