Richard Connell

“ I left the gym, mystified. A few days later I learned that Coco had been matched to meet Dad Finn again. Dad had a new lease on life, had done some strict training, and was doing the best fighting of his career. If Coco could beat him, the road of Billy's dusky pupil to a match with the champion was clear. But it is an old ring adage that “they never come back,” and that if a man once beats another one he can always beat him thereafter. That bout will test Tiger Syrup, all right, I thought. ”

“ When the referee was examining their bandaged hands, I heard Dad Finn, with a leer and a sneer, say: “Nig, I'm goin' to give some Birmingham undertaker a job to-night. I can lick all the hoodooed coons that ever lived. You ain't got a show. The Evil Spirit told me so.”
Coco moistened dry lips as if to reply, but said nothing. I watched his knees and saw that they were trembling. I wondered how long Dad Finn would let him last. I feared that Finn, known for his cruelty and cunning, would beat up Coco before the eyes of Billy Quirk ”

“ Yuh know, no fighter stands a chance of meeting the Champ until he first beats Dad Finn. Dad is a sort of gateway. He'll never beat the Champ himself, because he is too old, too fat and too slow, but he'll kill the hopes of a lot of ambitious boys, for he's one tough customer. ”

“ Thou can never, never, never win a fight. Give it up, foolish Ethiopian, and go back to thy old trade of tossin' cotton bales into freight cars. For thou can never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never win a fight. I have spoken.'
“With that, she blows, leavin' Coco as pale as new tan shoes, which is some pale for Coco.
“When the poor kid stepped into the ring next night his goat was in Siberia. Dad Finn steps up to him as he sits in the corner, gives him a nasty glare, and says. ”

“ The negro in question is undoubtedly suffering from psychological handicaps. It has been impressed on him by the power of suggestion that he can not fight. It must now be impressed on his brain, by the power of counter-suggestion, that he can fight. A possible method is to give him an evil-tasting, mildly stimulating fluid in such a way that he will believe it to have magic properties. His imagination will do the rest. A man who thinks he has the fighting power is in a fair way toward actually having that power. Billy shook the bottle thoughtfully.
“Have a drink of Tiger Syrup?” ”

“ She will give thee back thy punch. She has sent thee this magic bottle of Tiger Syrup. It contains the most powerful potion known to man or devil. To make this quart bottle of Tiger Syrup, three hundred thousand savage tigers were boiled down. One swig of this stuff, Clarence Dillingham Feeney, and you are as fierce as three hundred and fifty-nine tigers. Just before you start to fight in the ring, take one swig of it, and no man can stand up against you.'
“'Oh, lady gipsy, is you tellin' me de troot?” gasps Coco. ”

“ Every morning he got one of them. Anybody but a dumb-bell darky would have seen right off that it was a frame-up, but Coco fell for it. Can yuh imagine it? Two or three times a day some guy would call Coco up on the telephone. Sometimes they'd get him outa bed at two in the mornin'. The guy would say in a deep and awful voice, 'Is this Clarence Dillingham Feeney,' which is Coco's whole name. 'Yessuh,' Coco would answer—he's scared of telephones, anyhow. 'Clarence Dillingham Feeney,' the guy would rumble, 'thou art accursed. Thou can't fight in no ring. ”

“ In the gym he's willin' to tackle any guy, no matter how savage he is. An' onst, in the street, a gang of young hoodlums, all bigger than him, jumped on him and started to kick the tar outa him. He coulda run away. But he didn't. He stood there and battled the whole gang of them. He'd knocked four of them cold, when I came along and stopped the slaughter. Yes, the kid's game. But in the ring it's sompin else again. Somebody got his goat onst and he ain't never got it back. This is how it happens
“Several years back, when I was off in Australia with a bunch of fighters, I left Coco back here. ”