"
He then turned from one combatant to the other, with a wave of his hand.
III
"Montgomery--Craggs!" said he.
A great hush fell over the huge assembly. Even the dogs stopped
yapping; one might have thought that the monstrous room was empty.
The two men had stood up, the small white gloves over their hands
They advanced from their corners and shook hands, Montgomery gravely,
Craggs with a smile. Then they fell into position. The crowd gave a
long sigh--the intake of a thousand excited breaths. The referee tilted
his chair on to its back legs, and looked moodily critical from the one
to the other.
It was strength against activity--that was evident from the first.
The Master stood stolidly upon his K leg. It gave him a tremendous
pedestal; one could hardly imagine his being knocked down. And he could
pivot round upon it with extraordinary quickness; but his advance or
retreat was ungainly. His frame, however, was so much larger and
broader than that of the student, and his brown, massive face looked so
resolute and menacing that the hearts of the Wilson party sank within
them. There was one heart, however, which had not done so. It was that
of Robert Montgomery.
Any nervousness which he may have had completely passed away now that he
had his work before him.
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