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THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

Watson had to do was to straight-left him and escape. But Watson had another advantage. His boxing, and his experience in the slums andghettos of the world, had taught him restraint. He pivoted on his feet, and, instead of striking, ducked the other's swinging blow and went into a clinch. But Patsy, charging like a bull, had the momentum of his rush, while Watson, whirling to meet him, had no momentum. As a result, the pair of them went down, with all their three hundred and sixty pounds of weight, in a long crashing fall, Watson underneath. He lay with his head touching the rear wall of the large room. The street was a hundred and fifty feet away, and he did some quick thinking. His first thought was to avoid trouble. He had no wish to get into the papers of this, his childhood town, where many of his relatives and family friends still lived.

So it was that he locked his arms around the man on top of him, held him close, and waited for the help to come that must come in response to the crash of the fall. The help came-that is, six men ran in from the bar and formed about in a semi-circle.

"Take him off, fellows," Watson said. "I

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