Page 7 - lw3217

CHILDREN OF THE SOUTH 5

When he turns there is an ominous silence, and a
pause. He is looking straight into the eyes of a stranger,
whose eyes are like living coals of fire, as he says
"Dog, cur, scoundrel' ". There is a crash as three bodies
come together-Laynez, Roderigo and the stranger.
Laynez is almost immediately stretched out by a power-
ful blow. But Roderigo is of sterner stuff. Indeed it is
known throughout the country that there are none who
can match with him in strength and skill at murderous
fighting-where there are no rules of manhood, but
where bones are broken and faces smashed in by boot-
heels. But in this stranger he has met a foe that rivals
with him in muscular strength-and whose moral
strength is as "Hyperion to a Satyr."
They writhe, they twist, they squirm. And always
out shoots that powerful arm of the stranger, as his
clenched fist is driven straight to the mark. It is a
battle the like of which has never been seen by human
eyes on land or sea. The blows when landing sound
like bags of cement falling from a scaffold to the rocky
pavement below.
There can be but one end, and that end comes. The
brute is finally felled by one of those ponderous pile-
driving blows-and lies a bleeding, broken mass-
unconscious upon the ground.
And then this stranger, this man, talks to those who
by their sex are protected-and his voice is cutting-
hard and stern as he tells them.
I am Manuel Maretta the Outlaw. I am known to
keep my word. Harm that young girl again and I will
kill your scum called men, as I would a scorpion."
And then he was gone. Far into the hills he went and
then found a great powerful animal come running
from behind following his trail.
And then a strange thing happened-so strange that
it almost passeth understanding. The animal looked
at him with worshipful eyes. The animal made queer
half choking sounds, then licked his hands and was
done, the way he had come.