Cinder Path Tales

THE HOLLOW HAMMER 31 He wasstripped to the waist, fresh from a struggle with the stubborniron, and his body- was drenched and shining withsweat. His body, arms, and shoulders were round and firm; but there was no abnormal develop­ ment, or sign of a bound muscle, and he stood with an ease that proved good legs under him, though hidden by the thick corduroys. His hair was light and curly, and his face was smooth and clean cut. Many bigger and some stronger men have I seen, but none whose proportions were so perfect. Among the few remembrances of my books is that dialogue of Plato which de­ scribes the sensations of Socrates at first see­ ing the beautiful youth, Charmides. Well (may Socrates forgive me the comparison), I had the samefeeling whenI first looked at Angus MacLeod on that June day, back in the " sixties." Barring the difference in costume, andthe grime which a little water would remove, I believe they were alike as two peas. The lad (he looked scarcely twenty years of age for all his development) stood a moment or two in the doorway, watching with an amused smile a big fellow put the shot a scant twenty feet, after an enormous amount of effort. Then he was noticed by