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Hey there, Today I want to speak about Fixtures, a vital friend if you're going to work with Playwright and you want to share data between your tests or create custom executions. Let's start with a simple example. test('should win the player "X"', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto("/");
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(1)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(5)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(6)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(7)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(3)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(9)").click();
  await page.locator("button:nth-child(2)").click();

  const winnerParagraph = await page.getByText(/winner/i);
  await expect(winnerParagraph).toContainText("X");
}); Imagine you want to extract all the indexes of the buttons in an array to replicate this test and reduce all these click commands to have a shorter test. So, the first refactor before introducing the fixture feature could be this. test('should win the player "X"', async ({ page }) => {
  const playerXWinMoves = [1, 5, 6, 7, 3, 9, 2];

  for (const move of playerXWinMoves) {
    await page.locator(`button:nth-child(${move})`).click();
  }

  const winnerParagraph = await page.getByText(/winner/i);
  await expect(winnerParagraph).toContainText("X");
}); As you can notice, all the steps to reproduce the players' moves are contained in the variables. The test is concise, but most important, all the actions are in a single variable. Now it's time to introduce fixtures. playerXWinMoves Before carrying on, let me spend some words describing what fixtures are. What fixtures are Test fixtures are used to establish an environment for each test, giving the test everything it needs and nothing else. Test fixtures are isolated between tests. With fixtures, you can group tests based on their meaning instead of their standard setup. After this definition, you can think fixtures could be replaced by before/after hooks, but fixtures have several advantages over these hooks: Fixtures setup and teardown in the same place, making it easier to write. encapsulate Fixtures are between test files - you can define them once and use them in all your tests. That's how Playwright's built-in fixture works. reusable page Fixtures are - you can define as many fixtures as you'd like, and Playwright Test will set up only the ones needed by your test and nothing else. on-demand Fixtures are - they can depend on each other to provide complex behaviours. composable Fixtures are . Tests can use any combination of fixtures to tailor the precise environment they need without affecting other tests. flexible Fixtures simplify . You no longer need to wrap tests in s that set up an environment and are free to group your tests by their meaning instead. grouping describe Perfect, after this boring theoric part, it's time to get your hands dirty with fixtures in Playwright. To start the explanation, I want to begin with the final result. import { expect, test as base } from "@playwright/test";

type TestFixtures = {
  playerXWinMoves: [number, number, number, number, number, number, number];
};

const test = base.extend<TestFixtures>({
  playerXWinMoves: async ({}, use) => {
    await use([1, 5, 6, 7, 3, 9, 2]);
  },
});

test('should win the player "X"', async ({ page, playerXWinMoves }) => {
  for (const move of playerXWinMoves) {
    await page.locator(`button:nth-child(${move})`).click();
  }

  const winnerParagraph = await page.getByText(/winner/i);
  await expect(winnerParagraph).toContainText("X");
}); As you can see, to build our fixture, you have to extend the test object exposed by Playwright. Inside this function, you can create an object that represents your fixtures. In this case, I added the property to share the steps to reproduce the Player X win. In addition, just because I love working with Typescript, I added the type to describe my fixtures. It's essential to notice that inside the fixture, you must use the method to set the value for your fixtures. playerXWinMoves TestFixtures use Ok, carry on, and let's take a look at the test now. You can notice that you can get the fixture directly from the object passed to your test. And now, if you remove the previous variable and use the new one from the params, you will create your first test with Playwright using fixture. playerXWinMoves Great, I hope you can understand the incredible power of this feature and how it can help you to make your test more readable or to bring together some data useful in many tests. But before closing, let me leave you another bit. With fixtures, you can also override an object exposed directly by Playwright. For instance, you can override the page object, and instead of creating a hook to navigate to the home page, you can override the page and add this step in a fixture, so every test, before its execution, runs the steps to navigate to the home page. beforeEach And how can we do that? Simply in this way. const test = base.extend<TestFixtures>({
  page: async ({ baseURL, page }, use) => {
    baseURL && (await page.goto(baseURL));
    await use(page);
  },
}); Doing that, now each test, when it starts its execution, goes to the baseURL and then runs all the code. Incredible no? Now, you can remove the hook in the test file and rerun your tests to check the result. beforeEach Ok, that's all folk! Today you have learned how Playwright fixtures work and how to build one. I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you have any doubts, don't hesitate to reach out to me; I will be happy to help you. See you soon Bye Bye 👋 p.s. you can check out the code of this article here

An Essential Guide to Fixtures in Playwright

Una guía esencial para los accesorios en Dramaturgia

Un guide essentiel des luminaires dans Playwright

नाटककार में फिक्स्चर के लिए एक आवश्यक गाइड

Playwright のフィクスチャの基本ガイド

Um guia essencial para acessórios em dramaturgos

Hướng dẫn cần thiết về đồ đạc trong nhà viết kịch

剧作家中固定装置的基本指南

What makes content great? How do you know if the content you’ve written measures up? Good content, obviously, ranks higher and brings in more readers. But great content is so much more than that. For content to be great, it should hit home with your readers, hook them in so they don’t leave your blog or page, and make a positive impact on them. Of course, it should also rank higher on SERPs so that it reaches your readers in the first place. Now let's explore a few of these hacks. So whether you’re a writer, blogger, or part of the content marketing department of a firm -  you’ll need these simple tactics to improve your content’s performance and ace content metrics. Title Optimization: Creating Eye-Catching Headlines Before the reader even gets to your article, they’ll see the title. According to a study by Copyblogger, around 80 percent of visitors on any webpage read only the title. In other words, if your title (or headline) isn’t up to the mark, you’re going to lose out. Here’s how you can optimize your titles to get better content metrics. 1. Try answering a question. Or maybe, include something that satisfies your readers' curiosity. A hook is anything that compels your readers to click on your content. Any specific number can be a hook of your title. Or it could be certain words that immediately trigger a response from your readers. Use a hook in the title: 2. No matter how well written your article is about a particular topic. If your title doesn’t contain the right keyword, it won’t rank higher on the SERPs. So there’s a chance your readers will miss out on your content. Get the right keywords: Here one example from Buzzfeed. 3. : Call to actions are words that carry a certain level of force or “push” behind them. They psychologically persuade your readers to click on your article. By using words like “now”, “today”, “need to”, you make the readers feel like they absolutely must read your content. This helps improve your click-through rate. Create a sense of urgency in your readers Check out this example from Huffington Post. Write A Winning Introduction If your readers do not know why they should read your content in the first few lines, they’ll just move on to another blog or article. It’ll reduce your engagement time and increase the bounce rate. So grab your reader's attention from the get-go. Do not dawdle. And most importantly let them know what your blog is about in the first few lines. Pro tip: Include your primary keyword in the first 100 lines of your introduction. It helps Google’s algorithm to understand exactly what the topic of your content is without crawling down further. Use A Lot Of Videos And Images Visual content such as infographics, videos, and images can optimize the viewer’s engagement with your content. It also helps increase the dwell time on the page. A study by Hubspot says that marketers found that including videos in their content increased their dwell time by 80 percent. Just make sure the videos and images you use on your site are optimized for SEO. First of all, remember to scale the images. If you’ve got images that do not fit with the site’s bandwidth, it can increase the time taken for the web page to load. And it’s not a good idea to make your viewers wait. Also, remember to add the alt text and title to your image. Adding a keyword in your image title is a fantastic idea, as it helps the image rank even if your content doesn’t. An alt text makes your content more accessible to visually impaired readers using a screen reader. Kissmetrics, in 2012, went as far as to say that the captions on any image in your content are read 300 times more than the body of your content. So missing them out can affect your content performance without you even being aware of it. Long-Form Articles To The Rescue Long-form articles help facilitate scanning and scrolling by viewers. It’s a well-known secret that longer articles do get higher SERP rankings as well. Google also recognizes sites with more long-form content as an authority on a subject. There is also a simple correlation between longer content and backlinks - the more content you write, the more you can link out to trusted sites. But you’ve got to be careful with long-form articles. If not structured well, they can come off as monotonous and boring. Try using catchy subheadings to break up the content. A little humor, images, and memes wouldn’t be such a bad idea either. Take a look at what Daily Mail does. They list out the key essence of their long-form articles right at the beginning to capture viewers’ interest and compel them to spend time on the site. Laughter Is The Best Medicine If you’re looking for a way to engage your readers and keep them on your page for a longer time, adding humour to your content is the right way to go. It keeps the article light and conversational, and encourages the viewer to scroll further down the content. Memes are an excellent way to add humour to your content. They also make your brand more relatable, especially if you’re targeting a younger audience. The best thing about memes and humour? These have the potential to go viral. So if your content has a lot of memes, interesting pictures or humorous graphics, it is more likely to be shared by your readers. Think of all the site traffic and social engagement that can come your way. And you don’t need much to create a meme, just a little sense of humour. Don’t Forget Your Header Tags Header tags are unfortunately not given as much attention as they should be getting. Breaking up your blog into H1, H2, H3s, and H4s is the easiest way to make it more scannable and readable. Look at how SearchEngineJournal uses keywords in their H3s (sub-headings) and appears in the Featured Snippets. Do not forget to include the keywords in your article (that’s where all the juice is). Using a long-tail keyword in a header tag can increase its chances of being on Google’s Featured Snippet. Even H3s from listicle-style articles (if they contain a high-volume keyword) often get featured on the snippet. Content Is A Masterpiece For content to perform well, there aren’t just two or three factors you need to keep in mind - there are several! Think of it this way, if ranking content that aces all metrics is your special dish, then images, formatting, backlinks, etc. are the ingredients that go into creating it. Every part is essential to creating a masterpiece. While offering our to our customers, we use these tactics and follow best practices to give the best results to the end-user. We know that these hacks work because we've seen them work for our customers. content writing services

6 Actionable Tactics to Improve Content Performance and Ace Content Metrics

What you’ll be building. , Git Repo . Demo Here Introduction It's time you take your web development to the next level. You need to start developing mobile apps and if you ain’t there yet, start building. React Native has made life a lot easier for all the JavaScript developers out there, especially from the ReactJs community. And to cap it all, Google decided to contribute to the community by providing free starter backend services called Firebase. Firebase will get you producing mind-blowing applications, web or mobile in no time. You don’t need a top-notch machine to start developing a React Native app (initially speaking). All you must do is to get started. Prerequisites To follow up on this tutorial, you will need to understand how to use the following stacks. ReactJs CSS Firebase Expo Installing the Application Platforms Firstly, you need to have installed on your machine; you can go to their website to do that. Secondly, you need to have the installed on your computer using the command below. NodeJs Expo-CLI # Install Expo-CLI npm install --global expo-cli Initializing the Project Next, on the terminal create a new expo project with the name and the blank template when prompted. You should know that expo-CLI uses by default. “instagram-clone” yarn expo init instagram- to the directory.
cd instagram- the newly created expo project.
yarn // yarn web to spin up the web interface. # Create a project named my-app# Select the "blank" template # when prompted. clone # Navigate clone # Start start or Executing the above commands will create a new react-native project and spin it up on the browser. Now you will have the option of launching the IOS, Android, or the Web interface by simply clicking on the one that you want. For the sake of the newbies coding along with me, we will use the web interface. To spin up a development server on a mobile device you will need a simulator. Check out the instructions found here to use an or simulator, otherwise, use the web interface and follow up the tutorial. Lastly, open the project in , and let's get coding. Superb, you have successfully created the project, let’s install the project dependencies next. IOS Android VScode Installing Project Dependencies Just the core packages of React Native won’t get us an , we will add up some more packages to finish up this project. instagram clone yarn yarn yarn yarn yarn yarn # Required Packagesexpo install firebase add @react-navigation/native add @react-navigation/stack add email-validator add formik add valid-url add yup Epic, you have just completed the installations of our app dependencies, now let’s proceed with setting up Firebase configurations for this project. Setting Up Firebase This app uses Firebase for all its backend activities. To configure Firebase into your project, follow the steps below. In the first step, we will head on to the and create an account, you will need a account for this. You can sign in if you already have an account, you should see this project interface once you are in. Firebase console Gmail Once you are on this page, click on the button and you will be directed to a project creation process. You will start by entering the name of your project. ”add project” Once you have entered a project name, click on continue until the project creation is completed and you will be presented with the project overview page as seen in the image below. Next, we want to activate two services on Firebase that will help us build this application. One is the authentication service and the other, the Firestore service. Next, click the edit icon on the provider and enable it as seen in the image below. email/password Next, head to the Firestore database and activate it by clicking on the get started button, the page should look like this after enabling the Firestore service. Now it's time we create a config set up for our application. Head to the project overview page and click on the button, and choose the web option. You can get all this information from the Project Settings page as seen in the image below. “add app” Scroll down and you will see the configuration settings. Create a new file called at the root of your project and copy these configurations to it. This file will later be used for developing our application and it should look like this. firebase.js Fantastic, we are done with the basic Firebase settings, let’s proceed to the structuring of this application. Project Structure Your project structure should be looking like this. You should keep this as a reference guide as you code along. Jump in with me and let's start creating our project directories and files one after the other. The Components Directory We have several directories in this project, let's start with the components folder. Create a folder called within the root of this project and create the files discussed below. components FormikPostUploader Component This component is responsible for defining what each post will contain. This component uses and for structuring the interface that helps create new posts. It also ensures that each post you upload to the database is well captured and validated with correct data. See the code snippet below. Formik Yup Super, now let’s use it in the component. AddNewPost AddNewPost Component This component combines the component to improve the user interface. It also adds a Header component that will navigate the " " back to the " ". The code snippet below describes it better. FormikPostUploader NewPostScreen HomeScreen Great, we will later hook up this components with the . NewPostScreen Header Component This component carries three icons and the brand name which also serves as the logout button. Among the three icons are a plus, heart, and chats icons. The plus icon navigates you to the . The snippet below shows this in detail. NewPostScreen Epic, we will use this component later on the HomeScreen. Let’s proceed to code up the Stories component. Stories Component The stories component renders a list of stories and their respective username and is displayed in a vertical scroll view. The code snippet tells it all. This component along with the Header component will be used on the later. It’s time to proceed with the component. HomeScreen BottomTabs BottomTabs Component This component is responsible for displaying the sticky bottom icons at the bottom part of our app. It can also be used for navigation. See the codes below to understand how it works. You have done well, let’s build the post component next. Post Component This component is comprised of many smaller components stacked in one file, it's best we describe it visually and codewise. This is a huge component, it is better to spit out the codes for you to look at. Nice, you have done well, keep following and you will complete this app successfully. Now let’s add the authentication components. LoginForm and SignupForm ComponentsThese are the authentication components built to provide a clean authentication user interface. This component also uses and to perform form validation. Since they are similar code-wise, we might just as well discuss them at once. Create and copy the codes below into the following components in your components folder. Formik Yup Hurray, you have just completed the creation of all the components we will be using for this tutorial. Now let’s jump in and start creating some screens. The Screen Directory This entire project contains four screens which include the Login, Signup, Home, and NewPost screens. Let’s proceed by coding the . LoginScreen Login Screen This screen will authenticate a user if he has previously signed up on our application. With correct details the user will be let in, else, the firebase will alert the user of invalid credentials. Here is the code responsible for this behavior. Now let’s moving on to the . SignUpScreen Signup Screen While the Login Screen authenticates already existing users, the SignUpScreen registers new users into our application. Great, let’s add the last two screens starting with the . NewPostScreen New Post Screen This component allows us to send a new post to firebase after validating it with the component. The codes are attached below. FormikPostUploader Smart, let’s finish up with the . HomeScreen Home Screen This is the heart of this project. The Home screen uses the and components to populate the view. This is achieved by retrieving the posts from Firestore and recursively rendering all the posts with the Post component. The code snippets show this in detail. Post, Header, BottomTabs There you have it, you are almost done with this process, let’s support this app with some static data. The Data Directory This folder contains all the static files needed to support this project, it is essential for supporting the components data. Create a folder named “data” at the root of this project and create the following files inside of it. Amazing, let’s secure our application routes so unauthorized users won’t access it. Route-Guards and Protection Using the Firebase authentication service and authState function, we will regulate access to our application. Create two files named and at the root of this project. Next, paste the following codes into them. “AuthNavigation.js” “navigation.js” Good, let’s seal the deal by replacing the with the code block below. App.js import React from 'react'import AuthNavigation from './AuthNavigation' export default function App() {  return <AuthNavigation />} Cool, you have been so patient coding along, you deserve a cup of coffee. Before you go, download the images from the links below and add them to the assets folder of this project. Congratulations, you just crushed this project. https://github.com/Daltonic/instagram-clone/blob/main/assets/header-logo.png?raw=true https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Daltonic/instagram-clone/main/assets/instagram_logo.png Conclusion You don't need rocket science to learn how to develop applications with react and react-native. You can start small but never remain small. With the support of Google's Firebase, learning how to create stunning applications with react and react native will continuously advance your skills in software development and you can land that dream job or upscale your dev skills. You have to learn how to build a react native Instagram clone, it's time you start building. About Author Gospel Darlington is a remote Fullstack developer, prolific with technologies such as VueJs, Angular, ReactJs, React Native, and API development. He takes a huge interest in the development of high-grade and responsive web applications. Gospel Darlington currently works as a freelancer developing apps and writing tutorials that teach other developers how to integrate software products into their projects. He spends his free time coaching young people on how to be successful in life. His hobbies include inventing new recipes, book writing, songwriting, and singing. You can reach me on , , , , or for any discussion. Website LinkedIn Twitter Facebook GitHub This article was first published here

How to Build an Instagram Clone App With React Native 

How to Implement Authentication in Next.js 14 With NextAuth.js, Shadcn/ui, react-hook-form, and Zod

NextAuth.js, Shadcn/ui, react-hook-form, এবং Zod-এর সাহায্যে Next.js 14-এ কীভাবে প্রমাণীকরণ প্রয়োগ করা যায়

So implementieren Sie die Authentifizierung in Next.js 14 mit NextAuth.js, Shadcn/ui, React-Hook-Form und Zod

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NextAuth.js、Shadcn/ui、react-hook-form、Zod を使用して Next.js 14 に認証を実装する方法

NextAuth.js, Shadcn/ui, React-hook-form 및 Zod를 사용하여 Next.js 14에서 인증을 구현하는 방법

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HOME-MADE HARMONOGRAPHS

The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN BILLY BYRNE continued to fire intermittently for half an hour after the two men had left him. Then he fired several shots in quick succession, and dragging himself to his hands and knees crawled laboriously and painfully back into the jungle in search of a hiding place where he might die in peace. He had progressed some hundred yards when he felt the earth give way beneath him. He clutched frantically about for support, but there was none, and with a sickening lunge he plunged downward into Stygian darkness. His fall was a short one, and he brought up with a painful thud at the bottom of a deer pit—a covered trap which the natives dig to catch their fleet-footed prey. The pain of his wounds after the fall was excruciating. His head whirled dizzily. He knew that he was dying, and then all went black. When consciousness returned to the mucker it was daylight. The sky above shone through the ragged hole that his falling body had broken in the pit's covering the night before. “Gee!” muttered the mucker; “and I thought that I was dead!” His wounds had ceased to bleed, but he was very weak and stiff and sore. “I guess I'm too tough to croak!” he thought. He wondered if the two men would reach Barbara in safety. He hoped so. Mallory loved her, and he was sure that Barbara had loved Mallory. He wanted her to be happy. No thought of jealousy entered his mind. Mallory was her kind. Mallory “belonged.” He didn't. He was a mucker. How would he have looked training with her bunch. She would have been ashamed of him, and he couldn't have stood that. No, it was better as it had turned out. He'd squared himself for the beast he'd been to her, and he'd squared himself with Mallory, too. At least they'd have only decent thoughts of him, dead; but alive, that would be an entirely different thing. He would be in the way. He would be a constant embarrassment to them all, for they would feel that they'd have to be nice to him in return for what he had done for them. The thought made the mucker sick. “I'd rather croak,” he murmured. But he didn't “croak”—instead, he waxed stronger, and toward evening the pangs of hunger and thirst drove him to consider means for escaping from his hiding place, and searching for food and water. He waited until after dark, and then he crawled, with utmost difficulty, from the deep pit. He had heard nothing of the natives since the night before, and now, in the open, there came to him but the faint sounds of the village life across the clearing. Byrne dragged himself toward the trail that led to the spring where poor Theriere had died. It took him a long time to reach it, but at last he was successful. The clear, cold water helped to revive and strengthen him. Then he sought food. Some wild fruit partially satisfied him for the moment, and he commenced the laborious task of retracing his steps toward “Manhattan Island.” The trail that he had passed over in fifteen hours as he had hastened to the rescue of Anthony Harding and Billy Mallory required the better part of three days now. Occasionally he wondered why in the world he was traversing it anyway. Hadn't he wanted to die, and leave Barbara free? But life is sweet, and the red blood still flowed strong in the veins of the mucker. “I can go my own way,” he thought, “and not bother her; but I'll be dinged if I want to croak in this God-forsaken hole—Grand Avenue for mine, when it comes to passing in my checks. Gee! but I'd like to hear the rattle of the Lake Street 'L' and see the dolls coming down the station steps by Skidmore's when the crowd comes home from the Loop at night.” Billy Byrne was homesick. And then, too, his heart was very heavy and sad because of the great love he had found—a love which he realized was as hopeless as it was great. He had the memory, though, of the girl's arms about his neck, and her dear lips crushed to his for a brief instant, and her words—ah, those words! They would ring in Billy's head forever: “I love you, Billy, for what you ARE.” And a sudden resolve came into the mucker's mind as he whispered those words over and over again to himself. “I can't have her,” he said. “She isn't for the likes of me; but if I can't live with her, I can live for her—as she'd want me to live, and, s'help me, those words'll keep me straight. If she ever hears of Billy Byrne again it won't be anything to make her ashamed that she had her arms around him, kissing him, and telling him that she loved him.” At the river's edge across from the little island Billy came to a halt. He had reached the point near midnight, and hesitated to cross over and disturb the party at that hour. At last, however, he decided to cross quietly, and lie down near HER hut until morning. The crossing was most difficult, for he was very weak, but at last he came to the opposite bank and drew himself up to lie panting for a few minutes on the sloping bank. Then he crawled on again up to the top, and staggering to his feet made his way cautiously toward the two huts. All was quiet. He assumed that the party was asleep, and so he lay down near the rude shelter he had constructed for Barbara Harding, and fell asleep. It was broad daylight when he awoke—the sun was fully three hours high, and yet no one was stirring. For the first time misgivings commenced to assail Billy's mind. Could it be possible? He crossed over to his own hut and entered—it was deserted. Then he ran to Barbara's—it, too, was unoccupied. They had gone! All during the painful trip from the village to the island Billy had momentarily expected to meet a party of rescuers coming back for him. He had not been exactly disappointed, but a queer little lump had risen to his throat as the days passed and no help had come, and now this was the final blow. They had deserted him! Left him wounded and dying on this savage island without taking the trouble to assure themselves that he really was dead! It was incredible! “But was it?” thought Billy. “Didn't I tell them that I was dying? I thought so myself, and there is no reason why they shouldn't have thought so too. I suppose I shouldn't blame them, and I don't; but I wouldn't have left them that way and not come back. They had a warship full of blue jackets and marines—there wouldn't have been much danger to them.” Presently it occurred to him that the party may have returned to the coast to get the marines, and that even now they were searching for him. He hastened to return to the mainland, and once more he took up his wearisome journey. That night he reached the coast. Early the next morning he commenced his search for the man-of-war. By walking entirely around the island he should find her he felt sure. Shortly after noon he scaled a high promontory which jutted out into the sea. From its summit he had an unobstructed view of the broad Pacific. His heart leaped to his throat, for there but a short distance out were a great battleship and a trim white yacht—the Alaska and the Lotus! They were steaming slowly out to sea. He was just in time! Filled with happiness the mucker ran to the point of the promontory and stripping off his shirt waved it high above his head, the while he shouted at the top of his lungs; but the vessels kept on their course, giving no answering signal. For half an hour the man continued his futile efforts to attract the attention of someone on board either craft, but to his dismay he saw them grow smaller and smaller until in a few hours they passed over the rim of the world, disappearing from his view forever. Weak, wounded, and despairing, Billy sank to the ground, burying his face in his arms, and there the moon found him when she rose, and he was still there when she passed from the western sky. For three months Billy Byrne lived his lonely life upon the wild island. The trapping and fishing were good and there was a plentiful supply of good water. He regained his lost strength, recovering entirely from his wounds. The natives did not molest him, for he had stumbled upon a section of the shore which they considered bewitched and to which none of them would come under any circumstances. One morning, at the beginning of his fourth month of solitude, the mucker saw a smudge of smoke upon the horizon. Slowly it increased in volume and the speck beneath it resolved itself into the hull of a steamer. Closer and closer to the island it came. Billy gathered together a quantity of dry brush and lighted a signal fire on the lofty point from which he had seen the Alaska and the Lotus disappear. As it commenced to blaze freely he threw fresh, green boughs upon it until a vertical column of smoke arose high above the island. In breathless suspense Billy watched the movements of the steamer. At first it seemed that she would pass without taking notice of his signal, but at last he saw that she was changing her course and moving directly toward the island. Close in she came, for the sea was calm and the water deep, and when Billy was sure that those on board saw him and his frantic waving, he hurried, stumbling and falling, down the steep face of the cliff to the tiny beach at its foot. Already a boat had been lowered and was putting in for land. Billy waded out to the end of the short shelving beach and waited. The sight that met the eyes of the rescuers was one that filled them with awe, for they saw before them a huge, giant of a white man, half-naked except for a few tattered rags, who wore the long sword of an ancient samurai at his side, a modern revolver at his hip, and bore in his brawny hand the heavy war spear of a head-hunter. Long black hair, and a huge beard covered the man's head and face, but clean gray eyes shone from out of the tangle, and a broad grin welcomed them. “Oh, you white men!” shouted the mucker. “You certainly do look good to me.” Six months later a big, smooth-faced giant in ill-fitting sea togs strolled up Sixth Avenue. It was Billy Byrne—broke, but happy; Grand Avenue was less than a thousand miles away! “Gee!” he murmured; “but it's good to be home again!” There were places in New York where Billy would find acquaintances. One in particular he recalled—a little, third-floor gymnasium not far distant from the Battery. Thither he turned his steps now. As he entered the stuffy room in which two big fellows, stripped to the waist, were sparring, a stout, low-browed man sitting in a back-tilted chair against one wall looked up inquiringly. Billy crossed over to him, with outstretched hand. “Howdy, Professor!” he said. “Yeh got me, kid,” replied Professor Cassidy, taking the proffered hand. “I was up here with Larry Hilmore and the Goose Island Kid a year or so ago—my name's Byrne,” exclaimed Billy. “Sure,” said the professor; “I gotcha now. You're de guy 'at Larry was a tellin' me about. He said you'd be a great heavy if you'd leave de booze alone.” Billy smiled and nodded. “You don't look much like a booze fighter now,” remarked Cassidy. “And I ain't,” said the mucker. “I've been on the wagon for most a year, and I'm never comin' down.” “That's right, kid,” said the professor; “but wots the good word? Wot you doin' in little ol' Noo York?” “Lookin' for a job,” said Billy. “Strip!” commanded Professor Cassidy. “I'm lookin' for sparrin' partners for a gink dat's goin' to clean up de Big Smoke—if he'll ever come back an' scrap.” “You're on,” said Billy, commencing to divest himself of his outer clothing. Stripped to the waist he displayed as wondrous a set of muscles as even Professor Cassidy had ever seen. The man waxed enthusiastic over them. “You sure ought to have some wallop up your sleeve,” he said, admiringly. He then introduced Billy to the Harlem Hurricane, and Battling Dago Pete. “Pete's de guy I was tellin' you about,” explained Professor Cassidy. “He's got such a wallop dat I can't keep no sparrin' partners for him. The Hurricane here's de only bloke wit de guts to stay wit him—he's a fiend for punishment, Hurricane is; he jest natchrly eats it. “If you're broke I'll give you your keep as long as you stay wit Pete an' don't get cold feet, an' I'll fix up a mill for you now an' then so's you kin pull down a little coin fer yourself. Are you game?” “You know it,” said Billy. “All to the good then,” said the professor gaily; “now you put on the mitts an' spell Hurricane for a couple o' rounds.” Billy slipped his huge hands into the tight-fitting gloves. “It's been more'n a year since I had these on,” he said, “an' I may be a little slow an' stale at first; but after I get warmed up I'll do better.” Cassidy grinned and winked at Hurricane. “He won't never get warmed up,” Hurricane confided; “Pete'll knock his block off in about two minutes,” and the men settled back to watch the fun with ill-concealed amusement written upon their faces. What happened within the next few minutes in the stuffy little room of Professor Cassidy's third-floor “gymnasium” marks an epoch in the professor's life—he still talks of it, and doubtless shall until the Great Referee counts him out in the Last Round. The two men sparred for a moment, gaging one another. Then Battling Dago Pete swung a vicious left that landed square on Billy's face. It was a blow that might have felled an ox; but Billy only shook his head—it scarce seemed to jar him. Pete had half lowered his hands as he recovered from the blow, so sure he was that it would finish his new sparring partner, and now before he could regain his guard the mucker tore into him like a whirlwind. That single blow to the face seemed to have brought back to Billy Byrne all that he ever had known of the manly art of self-defense. Battling Dago Pete landed a few more before the fight was over, but as any old fighter will tell you there is nothing more discouraging than to discover that your most effective blows do not feeze your opponent, and only the knowledge of what a defeat at the hands of a new sparring partner would mean to his future, kept him plugging away at the hopeless task of attempting to knock out this mountain of bone and muscle. For a few minutes Billy Byrne played with his man, hitting him when and where he would. He fought, crouching, much as Jeffries used to fight, and in his size and strength was much that reminded Cassidy of the fallen idol that in his heart of hearts he still worshiped. And then, like a panther, the mucker sprang in with a vicious left hook to the jaw, followed, with lightning rapidity, by a right upper cut to the chin that lifted Battling Dago Pete a foot from the floor to drop him, unconscious, against the foot of the further wall. It was a clean knock-out, and when Cassidy and Hurricane got through ministering to the fallen man, and indications of returning consciousness were apparent, the professor turned to Billy. “Got any more 'hopes' lyin' around loose?” asked the mucker with a grin. “I guess the big dinge's safe for a while yet.” “Not if you'll keep on stayin' away from the booze, kid,” said Professor Cassidy, “an' let me handle you.” “I gotcha Steve,” said Billy; “go to it; but first, stake me to a feed. The front side of my stomach's wrapped around my back bone.” About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1995). The Mucker. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/331/pg331-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

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