Roaring Dick had not been brought up in the knowledge of protocols1 or ultimatums2. Scarcely had Bob uttered the last words of his brief speech before he was hit twice in the face, good smashing blows that sent him staggering. The blows were followed by a savage3 rush. Roaring Dick was on his man with the quickness and ferocity of a wildcat. He hit, kicked, wrestled4, even bit. Bob was whirled back by the very impetuosity of the attack. Before he could collect his wits he was badly punished and dazed. He tripped and Roaring Dick, with a bellow5 of satisfaction, began to kick at his body even before he reached the ground.
But strangely enough this fall served to clear Bob's head. Thousands of times he had gone down just like this on the football field, and had then been called upon to struggle on with the ball as far as he was able. A slight hint of the accustomed will sometimes steady us in the most difficult positions. The mind, bumping aimlessly, falls into its groove6, and instinctively8 shoots forward with tremendous velocity9. Bob hit the ground, half turned on his shoulder, rolled over twice with the rapid, vigorous twist second-nature to a seasoned halfback, and bounded to his feet. He met Roaring Dick half way with a straight blow. It failed to stop, or even to shake the little riverman. The next instant the men were wrestling fiercely.
Bob found himself surprisingly opposed. Beneath his loose, soft clothing the riverman seemed to be made of steel. Suddenly Bob was called upon to exert every ounce of strength in his body, and to summon all his acquired skill to prevent himself from being ignominiously10 overpowered. The ferocity of the rush, and the purposeful rapidity of Roaring Dick's attack, as well as the unexpected variety thereof, kept him fully11 occupied in defending himself. With the exception of the single blow delivered when he had regained12 his feet, he had been unable even to attempt aggression13. It was as though he had touched a button to release an astonishing and bewildering erratic14 energy.
Bob had done a great deal of boxing and considerable wrestling. During his boyhood and youth he had even become involved in several fisticuffs. They had always been with the boys or young men of his own ideas. Though conducted in anger they retained still a certain remnant of convention. No matter how much you wanted to "do" the other fellow, you tried to accomplish that result by hitting cleanly, or by wrestling him to a point where you could "punch his face in." The object was to hurt your opponent until he had had enough, until he was willing to quit, until he had been thoroughly15 impressed with the fact that he was punished. But this result was to be accomplished16 with the fists. If your opponent seized a club, or a stone, or tried to kick, that very act indicated his defeat. He had had enough, and that was one way of acknowledging your superiority. So strongly ingrained had this instinct of the fight-convention become that even now Bob unconsciously was playing according to the rules of the game.
Roaring Dick, on the contrary, was out solely17 for results. He fought with every resource at his command. Bob was slow to realize this, slow to arouse himself beyond the point of calculated defence. His whole training on the field inclined him to keep cool and to play, whatever the game, from a reasoning standpoint. He was young, strong and practised; but he was not roused above the normal. And, as many rivermen had good reason to know, the normal man availed little against Roaring Dick's maniacal18 rushes.
The men were close-locked, and tugging19 and straining for an advantage. Bob crouched20 lower and lower with a well-defined notion of getting a twist on his opponent. For an instant he partially21 freed one side. Like lightning Roaring Dick delivered a fierce straight kick at his groin. The blow missed its aim, but Bob felt the long, sharp spikes22 tearing the flesh of his thigh23. Sheer surprise relaxed his muscles for the fraction of an instant. Roaring Dick lowered his head, rammed24 it into Bob's chin, and at the same time reached for the young man's gullet with both hands. Bob tore his head out of reach in the nick of time. As they closed again Roaring Dick's right hand was free. Bob felt the riverman's thumb fumbling25 for his eyeball.
"Why, he wants to cripple me, to kill me!" the young man cried to himself. So vivid was the astonishment26 of this revelation to his sportsman's soul that he believed he had said it aloud. This was no mere27 fight, it was a combat. In modern civilized28 conditions combats are notably29 few and far between. It is difficult for the average man to come to a realization30 that he must in any circumstances depend on himself for the preservation31 of his life. Even to the last moment the victim of the real melodrama32 that occasionally breaks out in the most unlikely places is likely to be more concerned with his outraged33 dignity than with his peril34. That thumb, feeling eagerly for his eye-socket, woke Bob to a new world. A swift anger rushed over him like a hot wave.
This man was trying to injure him. Either the kick or the gouge35 would have left him maimed for life. A sudden fierce desire to beat his opponent into the earth seized Bob. With a single effort he wrenched36 his arms free.
Now this fact has been noted37 again and again: mere size has often little to do with a man's physical prowess. The list of anecdotes38 wherein the little fellow "puts it all over" the big bully39 is exceptionally long. Nor are more than a bare majority of the anecdotes baseless. In our own lumber40 woods a one-hundred-and-thirty-pound man with no other weapon than his two hands once nearly killed a two-hundred-pound blacksmith for pushing him off a bench. This phenomenon arises from the fact that the little man seems capable often of releasing at will a greater flood of dynamic energy than a big man. We express this by saying that it is the spirit that counts. As a matter of truth the big man may have as much courage as the little man. It is simply that he cannot, at will, tap as quickly the vast reservoir of nervous energy that lies beneath all human effort of any kind whatsoever41. He cannot arouse himself as can the little man.
It was for the foregoing reason that Roaring Dick had acquired his ascendancy42. He possessed43 the temperament44 that fuses. When he fought, he fought with the ferocity and concentration of a wild beast. This concentration, this power of fusing to white heat all the powers of a man's being down to the uttermost, this instinctive7 ability to tap the extra-human stores of dynamics45 is what constitutes the temperament of genius, whether it be applied46 to invention, to artistic47 creation, to ruling, to finance, or merely to beating down personal opposition48 by beating in the opponent's face. Unfortunately for him, Bob Orde happened also to possess the temperament of genius. The two foul49 blows aroused him. All at once he became blind to everything but an unreasoning desire to hurt this man who had tried to hurt him. On the side of dynamics the combat suddenly equalized. It became a question merely of relative power, and Bob was the bigger man.
Bob threw his man from him by main strength. Roaring Dick staggered back, only to carrom against a tree. A dozen swift, straight blows in the face drove him by the sheer force of them. He was smothered50, overwhelmed, by the young man's superior size. Bob fell upon him savagely51. In less than a minute the fight was over as far as Roaring Dick was concerned. Blinded, utterly52 winded, his whiskey-driven energies drained away, he fell like a log. Bob, still blazing, found himself without an opponent.
He glared about him. The rivermen were gathered in a silent ring. Just beyond stood a side-bar buggy in which a burly, sodden53 red-faced man stood up the better to see. Bob recognized him as one of the saloon keepers at Twin Falls, and his white-hot brain jumped to the correct conclusion that Roaring Dick, driven by some vague conscience-stirring in regard to his work, had insisted on going down river; and that this dive-keeper, loth to lose a profitable customer in the dull season, had offered transportation in the hopeful probability that he could induce the riverman to return with him. Bob stooped, lifted his unconscious opponent, strode to the side-bar buggy and unceremoniously dumped his burden therein.
"Now," said he roughly, "get out of here! When this man comes to, you tell him he's fired! He's not to show his face on this river again!"
The saloon-keeper demurred54, blustering55 slightly after the time-tried manner of his sort.
"Look here, young fellow, you can't talk that way to me."
"Can't I!" snapped Bob; "well, you turn around and get out of here."
The man met full the blaze of the extra-normal powers not yet fallen below the barrier in the young fellow's personality. He gathered up the reins56 and drove away.
Bob watched him out of sight, his chest rising and falling with the receding57 waves of his passion. He was a strange young figure with his torn garments, his tossed hair, the streak58 of blood beneath his eye, and the inner fading glow of his face. At last he drew a long, shuddering59 breath, and turned to the expectant and silent group of rivermen.
"Boys," said he pleasantly, "I don't know one damn thing about river-driving, but I do know when a man's doing his best work. I shall expect you fellows to get in and rustle60 down those logs. Any man who thinks he's going to soldier on me is going to get fooled, and he's going to get his time handed out to him on the spot. As near as I can make out, unless we get an everlasting61 wiggle on us--every one of us--this drive'll hang up; and I'd just as soon hang it by laying off those who try to shirk as by letting you hang it by not working your best. So get busy. If anybody wants to quit, let 'em step up right now. Any remarks?" He looked from one to another.
"Nary remark," said one man at last.
"All right. Now get your backs into this. It's _team work_ that counts. You've each got your choice; either you can lie like the devil to hide the fact that you were a member of the Cedar62 Branch crew in 1899, or you can go away and brag63 about it. It's up to you. Get busy."
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protocols
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| n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划） | |
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ultimatums
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| 最后通牒( ultimatum的名词复数 ) | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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groove
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| n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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maniacal
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| adj.发疯的 | |
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tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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rammed
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| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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melodrama
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| n.音乐剧；情节剧 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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gouge
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| v.凿；挖出；n.半圆凿；凿孔；欺诈 | |
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wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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ascendancy
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| n.统治权，支配力量 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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dynamics
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| n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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shuddering
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| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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