But even though this major step was accomplished successfully, Lefty Joe was not the man to abandon caution in the midst of an enterprise.  The roar of the train would have covered sounds ten times as loud as those of his snaky approach, yet he glided forward with as much care as though he were stepping on old stairs in a silent house.  He could see a vague shadow—­Donnegan; but chiefly he worked by that peculiar sense of direction which some people possess in a dim light.  The blind, of course, have that sense in a high degree of sensitiveness, but even those who are not blind may learn to trust the peculiar and inverted sense of direction.

With this to aid him, Lefty Joe went steadily, slowly across the first and most dangerous stage of his journey.  That is, he got away from the square of the open door, where the faint starlight might vaguely serve to silhouette his body.  After this, it was easier work.

Of course, when he alighted on the floor of the car, the knife had been transferred from his teeth to his left hand; and all during his progress forward the knife was being balanced delicately, as though he were not yet quite sure of the weight of the weapon.  Just as a prize fighter keeps his deadly, poised hands in play, moving them as though he fears to lose his intimate touch with them.

This stalking had occupied a matter of split seconds.  Now Lefty Joe rose slowly.  He was leaning very far forward, and he warded against the roll of the car by spreading out his right hand close to the floor; his left hand he poised with the knife, and he began to gather his muscles for the leap.  He had already taken the last preliminary movement—­he had swung himself to the right side a little and, lightening his left foot, had thrown all his weight upon the right—­in fact, his body was literally suspended in the instant of springing, catlike, when the shadow which was Donnegan came to life.

The shadow convulsed as shadows are apt to swirl in a green pool when a stone is dropped into it; and a bit of board two feet long and some eight inches wide cracked against the shins of Lefty Joe.

It was about the least dramatic weapon that could have been chosen under those circumstances, but certainly no other defense could have frustrated Lefty’s spring so completely.  Instead of launching out in a compact mass whose point of contact was the reaching knife, Lefty crawled stupidly forward upon his knees, and had to throw out his knife hand to save his balance.

It is a singular thing to note how important balance is to men.  Animals fight, as a rule, just as well on their backs as they do on their feet.  They can lie on their sides and bite; they can swing their claws even while they are dropping through the air.  But man needs poise and balance before he can act.  What is speed in a fighter?  It is not so much an affair of the muscles as it is the power of the brain to adapt itself instantly to each