Yet he kept his feet, blindly gripping for me, driven almost crazy by the pain of my last blow, and the jeers of his mates.
I evaded his clutch by leaping aside, but the space was far too small to permit these tactics to carry long, and finally he had me.

Yet, even as he seemingly crushed the very breath out of me, his giant strength met with a resistance which increased his fury.

Already the fellow had lost his head, but I fought coolly, putting my skill against brute force, every wrestler's trick I knew flashing into my brain.

Breathless, my flesh scraped and bruised, I wriggled partly free, and tripped him, his great body striking the deck with a thud.

I fell with him, dragged down by his desperate grip, but was first upon my feet, saluted by a roar of delight from the lips of those crowding about us.