146 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



brother was a capable "south-paw" twirler, they 

 drafted him for service at once. In less than 

 two weeks we were influential townsmen ! 



Of course, we didn't advertise the fact that we 

 blew into town on "rusty runners," not far from 

 being down and out. And no one ever even had 

 any suspicions that we were ever short on money, 

 for after we earned that first twelve dollars, we 

 kept on gathering in the cash, and as both of us 

 were more than free spenders, we made the 

 impression of having more than enough money. 



About a week after we arrived in town a local 

 contingent staged a prize fight. The opposing 

 scrappers were a young cow puncher of consider- 

 able scrappability and a Frenchman who was a 

 helper on an engine crew engaged in the neigh- 

 borhood. The Frenchman weighed at least forty 

 pounds more than the cow puncher, but the cow 

 puncher's reputation seemed to offset that. 



The conditions of the scrap were that the big 

 Frenchman must knock out the little cow puncher 

 in five rounds ; if the cow puncher was on his feet 

 at the end of the fifth round, the Frenchman was 

 to be declared the loser. 



All arrangements had been made for the fight, 

 which was to be staged on the floor of an imple- 

 ment warehouse where a "squared circle" had 

 already been fixed up. At the last moment it 

 was discovered that the fight had aroused such 

 enthusiasm among the natives that it was an 

 impossibility to select a referee from among them 

 who would be agreeable to all parties ; every man 

 had bet to the limit of his means. 



