"Come up and have a jolt, and we can have a talk.
'Lefty' and Monahan think you went flop on the job, but I know better, eh?
The old man always picks you for these singles; he never gives me a shot at 'em." Then he added: "Here we are!" And, opening a door in the first hall, he stepped to the center of the room and fumbled at a chain that broke loose and tinkled against glass; eventually he snapped on an electric light.

Ronicky Doone saw a powerfully built, bull-necked man, with a soft hat pulled far down on his head.

Then the man turned.
It was much against the grain for Ronicky Doone to attack a man by surprise, but necessity is a stern ruler.

And the necessity which made him strike made him hit with the speed of a snapping whiplash and the weight of a sledge hammer.

Before the other was fully turned that iron-hard set of knuckles crashed against the base of his jaw.
He fell without a murmur, without a struggle, Ronicky catching him in his arms to break the weight of the fall.