Then the dentist raised weights and chinned himself on the rings till they thought he would never tire.
His great success quite turned his head; he strutted back and forth in front of the women, his chest thrown out, and his great mouth perpetually expanded in a triumphant grin.

As he felt his strength more and more, he began to abuse it; he domineered over the others, gripping suddenly at their arms till they squirmed with pain, and slapping Marcus on the back so that he gasped and gagged for breath.

The childish vanity of the great fellow was as undisguised as that of a schoolboy.

He began to tell of wonderful feats of strength he had accomplished when he was a young man.

Why, at one time he had knocked down a half-grown heifer with a blow of his fist between the eyes, sure, and the heifer had just stiffened out and trembled all over and died without getting up.
McTeague told this story again, and yet again.