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Show 4 Y y, .,... $ A Few Words I Caused a Fight J By ANTHONY REIMERT J , 124, Wwtern Newnpaper Union.) A WOMAN'S scream was the first thing that directed attention to It. I'asslng pedestrians looked up and stopped appalled by what they saw. On the girder outside the nineteenth story of the new building, now in course of construction, two men were engaged In a Itfe-and-death battle. Upon that narrow strip of steel they fought, dashing their fists Into each other's faces, clawing at each other; and at last, locked In a death-grip, they seemed to rest absolutetly Immobile, Im-mobile, so tense was the struggle. In a moment the street was packed with a dense mob of people. The police po-lice reserves cume at a run. Five policemen, accustomed to braving dizzy heights, started on the upward way, in the faint hope of arresting the fight before a fatal termination occurred. oc-curred. And that seemed Impossible, for the combatants had again broken loose from their stranglehold, and were pounding each other about the face and body. Work had stopped for the day; they were the only two workmen left. Who were they? The foreman, who appeared ap-peared to minimize the situation explained. ex-plained. Bob Connelly and Bill Jenkins, Jen-kins, two of his steadiest and best men. They owned their little homes In one of the suburbs, and raised chickens! A very pastoral occupation for those two desperate, rocking figures fig-ures nbove. "What's the quarrel about, foreman?" fore-man?" "Blamed if I know." "Have they been enemies " "Best of friends." Meanwhile the five policemen were progressing on their upward way. All hRd been engaged In the same hazardous hazard-ous occupation as the combatants before be-fore Joining the force. And still the battle raged, and neither man would give an Inch. The police were drawing draw-ing nearer now. A groan of horror went up from the mob as the two men became locked In a stranglehold again. And now It could be seen thnt one of them was down down on his back upon that narrow girder, and the other was kneeling over him and pounding him. Merciful heavens, was there ever such a battle as that before? The under-man, with a supreme effort, ef-fort, had regained his stance. Again the fight raged, nammer and tongs! Hammer and tongs! But now the policemen's po-licemen's heads appeared upon the nineteenth story. The hearts of the watchers In the street below stood still as they looked on. Would they be In time to separate the two Infuriated men? Would they not perhaps be hurled to a grisly death on the sidewalk below, crushed bone and flesh? The policemen were approaching the pair cautiously, two on one side, three on the other. Now! This was the supreme su-preme moment ! The watchers gasped. Then suddenly It was over. The fighters had sprung apart, and seven men were In a wordy argument upon the girder. And now they were descending. The fight was over. The spectacle had come to an end. There was to be no death. No sudden horror of crushed bodies that would have given the final thrill to those watching multitudes. The crowd began to disperse under the urging of the police reserves. But a little knot of people still remained standing at the foot of the building, waiting for the combatants to emerge. What had they fought about? A girl, of course. There was always a woman at the bottom of anything like that. And now the brave policemen appeared ap-peared on the ground floor, escorting their prisoners amiably enough. The men were putting on their coats. There was a rush forward. The police pushed the crowd back. Only one man was permitted to go forward to meet the party. He was the superintendent of the building, agitated, agi-tated, stammering: 1 "Sergeant, what was It about?" "Why, It wasn't nothln'. They had a few words, that's all." "Just a few words, me and my friend Jenkins," grinned Connolly out of a bloody face. "Danger? Sure, there wasn't any danger. We never thought of that. Guess we wasn't In danger, was we, BUI?" "But what was It about?" "Why, he said his Rhode Island Reds was better layers than my White Leghorns, Leg-horns, and I called him a liar!" |