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So deep was her feeling of contempt for this man, that the sudden appearance of

him before her startled a single exclamation from her.

Coward!" came the one word, involuntarily, from her lips.

The man's scowl deepened menacingly. He took a threatening step toward her.

Wot's dat?" he growled. "Don't get gay wit me, or I'll black dem lamps fer yeh,"

and he raised a heavy fist as though to strike her.

The mucker had looked to see the girl cower before his threatened blow--that

would have been ample atonement for her insult, and would have appealed

greatly to his Kelly-gang sense of humor. Many a time had he threatened women

thus, for the keen enjoyment of hearing their screams of fright and seeing them

turn and flee in terror. When they had held their ground and opposed him, as

some upon the West Side had felt sufficiently muscular to do, the mucker had not

hesitated to "hand them one." Thus only might a man uphold his reputation for

bravery in the vicinage of Grand Avenue.

He had looked to see this girl of the effete and effeminate upper class swoon with

terror before him; but to his intense astonishment she but stood erect and brave

before him, her head high held, her eyes cold and level and unafraid. And then

she spoke again.

"Coward!" she said.

Billy almost struck her; but something held his hand. What, he could not

understand. Could it be that he feared this slender girl? And at this juncture,

when the threat of his attitude was the most apparent, Second Officer Theriere

came upon the scene. At a glance he took in the situation, and with a bound had

sprung between Billy Byrne and Barbara Harding.

The Mucker