Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/196

 seventh inning when the Q-4's rioters appeared and the score was 18 to 7 in favor of the destroyer's team, but Clancy rallied the neutrals, which included many amused British Tommies from the garrison, and conducted such a siege of cheering and raillery that the supply ship came through in the ninth with enough hits to win.

The destroyer team's catcher, a big two-handed Irish-American with flaming red hair and a belligerent disposition, took Clancy to task the instant he was free of his mask and protector and there ensued as pretty a little informal scrap as it had been the pleasure of the Britons to witness for some time. They were awfully appreciative, those Tommies, and did everything in their power to make the affair a success, even to joining hands and establishing a ring. A red-cheeked sergeant took charge of proceedings and appointed himself referee and everything went off very nicely indeed. They found six rounds before the destroyer "gob" took the count, during which it was give-and-take all the way, with some really scientific work by both men. Clancy looked a bit the worse for wear at the end of the battle, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that this opponent looked a sight more disreputable. Subsequently the late foes shook hands quite amicably, 171