An Outback Marriage

"I--ah--asked this lady to dance, and if she--er--will do me the

honour," he said, "I--"

"Oh! you arst 'er to darnce? And what right 'ad you to arst 'er to

darnce, you lop-eared rabbit?" interrupted the larrikin, raising

his voice as he warmed to his subject. "I brought 'er 'ere. I paid

the shillin'. Now then, you take your 'ook," he went on, pointing

sternly to the door, and talking as he would to a disobedient dog.

"Go on, now. Take your 'ook."

The Englishman said nothing, but his jaw set ominously. The girl

giggled, delighted at being the centre of so much observation.

The band stopped playing, and the dancers crowded round. Word was

passed down that it was a "toff darncin' with Nugget's donah," and

from various parts of the room black-coated duplicates of Nugget

hurried swiftly to the scene.

The doorkeeper turned to Gordon. "You 'd best get your mate out o'

this," he said. "These are the Rocks Push, and they'll deal with

him all right."

"Deal with him, will they?" said Gordon, looking at the gesticulating

Nugget. "They'll bite off more than they can chew if they interfere

with him. This is just his form, a row like this. He's a bit of

a champion in a rough-and-tumble, I believe."

"Is he?" said the doorkeeper, sardonically. "Well, look 'ere,

now, you take it from me, if there's a row Nugget will spread him

out as flat as a newspaper. They've all been in the ring in their

time, these coves. There's Nugget, and Ginger, and Brummy--all red

'ot. You get him away!"

Meanwhile the Englishman's ire was gradually rising. He was past

the stage of considering whether it was worth while to have a fight

over a factory girl in a shilling dancing saloon, and the desire

for battle blazed up in his eyes. He turned and confronted Nugget.

"You go about your business," he said, dropping all the laboured

politeness out of his tones. "If she likes to dance--"

He got no further. A shrill whistle rang through the room; a voice

shouted, "Don't 'it 'im; 'ook 'im!" His arms were seized from behind

and pinioned to his sides. The lights were turned out. Somebody in

front hit him a terrific crack in the eye at the same moment that

someone else administered a violent kick from the rear. He was

propelled by an invisible force to the head of the stairs, and

then--whizz! down he went in one prodigious leap, clear from the

top to the first landing.

Here, in pitch-darkness, he grappled one of his assailants. For

a few seconds they swayed and struggled, and then rolled down the

rest of the stairs, over and over each other, grappling and clawing,

each trying to tear the other's shirt off. When they rolled into

the street, Carew discovered that he had hold of Charlie Gordon.