Chapter
18
The Smith's last battle“Clear the outer ring!” cried Jackson, standing up beside the ropes with a big silver watch in his hand.
“Ss-whack! ss-whack! ss-whack!” went the horse-whips - for a number of the spectators, either driven onwards by the pressure behind or willing to risk some physical pain on the chance of getting a better view, had crept under the ropes and formed a ragged fringe within the outer ring. Now, amidst roars of laughter from the crowd and a shower of blows from the beaters-out, they dived madly back, with the ungainly haste of frightened sheep blundering through a gap in their hurdles. Their case was a hard one, for the folk in front refused to yield an inch of their places - but the arguments from the rear prevailed over everything else, and presently eve
