"That must have been where your Pa got his black eye," said the grocery
man, as he charged the bunch of celery to the boy's Pa. "Did the minister
hit him, or was it one of the sisters?"
"O, he didn't get his black eye at prayer meeting!" said the boy, as he
took his mittens off the stove, and rubbed them to take the stiffening
out. "It was from boxing. Pa told my chum and me that it was no harm to
learn to box, cause we could defend ourselves, and he said he used to be a
holy terror with the boxing gloves when he was a boy, and he has been
giving us lessons. Well, he is no slouch, now I tell you, and handles
himself pretty well for a church member. I read in the paper how Zack
Chandler played it on Conkling by getting Jem Mace, the prize fighter, to
knock him silly, and I asked Pa if he wouldn't let me bring a
poor boy who had no father to teach him boxing, to our house to learn to
box, and Pa said certainly, fetch him along. He said he would be glad to
do anything for a poor orphan. So I went down in the Third ward and got an
Irish boy by the name of Duffy, who can knock the socks off any boy in the
ward. He fit a prize fight once. It would have made you laugh to see Pa
telling him how to hold his hands and how to guard his face. He told Duffy
not to be afraid, but strike right out and hit for keeps.
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