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shoulders and starts in to dress, payin' no further attention to the tremblin' Don.

"I—I—will leave the city at once and never return if you will open that door and let me go," he stammers. "I swear it! Sapristi—that terrible woman!"

Ptomaine Joe's eyes become slits. "Which terrible woman?" he asks carelessly.

"That Brown woman of the hotel!" says the Don. "May she—"

Sock!

Reachin' over my shoulder, Ptomaine knocked Mr. Don Miguel Espinosa as cold as a pawnbroker's smile. Then he coolly leans over and looks at his prey carefully:

"'At was a sweet punch," he remarks, in a well-satisfied voice. "A darb! This jobbie will be out for half a hour. Now, how the hell is it I can't do that in a ring?"