A gulp of liquor dulled the pain,

And then the two flasks clinked again.

Time!

There was Bill as grim as death.

He rushed, I clinched, to get more breath.

And breath I got, though Billy bats

Some stinging short-arms in my slats.

And when we broke, as I foresaw,

He swung his right in for the jaw.

I stopped it on my shoulder bone,