But before I was well on the
firm ground again, I saw that little help of mine was needed, for the
turnkey was flagging, and there was a look of anguish and desperate
surprise upon his face, to find that the man he had thought to master so
lightly was strong as a giant. They were swaying to and fro, and the
jailer's grip was slackening, for his muscles were overwrought and
tired; but Elzevir held him firm as a vice, and I saw from his eyes and
the bearing of his body that he was gathering himself up to give his
enemy a fall.
Now I guessed that the fall he would use would be the Compton Toss, for
though I had never seen him give it, yet he was well known for a wrestler
in his younger days, and the Compton Toss for his most certain fall. I
shall not explain the method of it, but those who have seen it used will
know that 'tis a deadly fall, and he who lets himself get thrown that way
even upon grass, is seldom fit to wrestle another bout the same day.
Still 'tis a difficult fall to use, and perhaps Elzevir would never have
been able to give it, had not the other at that moment taken one hand off
the waist, and tried to make a clutch with it at the throat. But the
only way of avoiding that fall, and indeed most others, is to keep both
hands firm between hip and shoulder-blade, and the moment Elzevir felt
one hand off his back, he had the jailer off his feet and gave him
Compton's Toss.
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