"We have told you several times," answered the Boss, his temper
beginning to fray visibly. "What is the trick of getting into that
house?"
"Well," Jeems raised his hand to rub his ear, "yo' turn to the left--"
So he agreed with the listener. Val was to take the Boss on his left. He
gathered his feet under him for the leap which he hoped would land him
full upon the invader.
"Yes?" prompted the man impatiently as Jeems hesitated. At that moment
Val sprang.
But his game leg betrayed him again. Instead of landing cleanly upon the
other, he came down draggingly across the Boss' shoulders. The gun
roared and then the attacked man lashed back a vicious blow which split
the skin over Val's cheek-bone.
For the next three minutes Val was more than occupied. His opponent was
a dirty fighter, and when he had recovered from his surprise he was more
than the boy could handle. Val's club was twisted out of his hands, and
he found himself fighting wildly to keep the man's clawing fingers from
his eyes. They were both rolling on the ground, flailing out at each
other. Twice Val tasted his own blood when one of the enemy's vicious
jabs glanced along his face. Either blow would have finished Val had it
landed clean.
Then in a sudden turn the Boss caught him in a deadly body-lock which
left him half-stunned and panting, at his mercy. And there was no mercy
in the man.
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