THE RING FEMININE. 71 



day, one woman accused another of cheating, and in return 

 was called a liar. Just as we were passing, they came to 

 blows, and hammered each other very severely. A crowd 

 collected, and formed a ring about them in a moment. It 

 was our impulse, with two or three other persons, of perhaps 

 too weak a sense of justice, to rush in and part them ; but 

 the crowd were greatly enraged, and raised the cry, Hands 

 off! fair play ! so that we were in danger of being rather 

 roughly handled ourselves. They fought like tigers, till the 

 blood ran freely. At length the hair of one of them fell over 

 her face.&quot; 



&quot; Tut tut !&quot; said the coachman. 



&quot; And as she tossed her head backwards, and tried to 

 draw it off with one hand, she got a facer ; and then, one, 

 two, three ! down she went ! Fair play ! shouted the 

 crowd again, and caught up the victor and bore her off with 

 a hurrah to a butcher s shop. The fallen woman was picked 

 up and lifted into a tinker s cart; men and women crowded 

 about her, and told her it was all along of her having her hair 

 fall, and it was a foul blow, and better luck next time. One 

 brought a comb, another a mug of water, and another a little 

 black bottle. In a minute &quot; 



&quot; Time /&quot; said the coachman, as if reminding his horses. 



&quot; In a minute she had her face washed ; tobacco crowded 

 up her nose to staunch the blood ; her hair drawn tightly 

 back, and knotted, and had taken a good pull at the bottle.&quot; 



&quot; Up to timer whispered coachee. 



&quot; And the last we saw of her, she was standing before the 

 butcher s shop, with her sleeves rolled up, sparring in a scien 

 tific style, and screaming, Come on ! come on ! Give me 

 fair play, and I ll fight you. Oh ! I ll fight you ! only give 

 me fair play ! and all the crowd were shouting, Fair fight ! 

 fair fight ! Come out ! come out and give her fair fight ! &quot; 



