Maurice's jaws assumed a particularly ferocious angle.

Her dog! Rage choked him.

With an oath he flung this student aside and that, fought his way to the center.

A burly student, armed with a stout cane, was the principal aggressor.
Maurice doubled his fist and swung a blow which had one hundred and sixty pounds behind it, and it landed squarely on the cheek of the student, who dropped face downward and lay still.

This onslaught was so sudden and unexpected that the students were confounded.