he moved round to get to the stile again. Suddenly, from
out of nowhere, came a great blow against his ear, that sent him falling
helpless backwards. He heard Dawes's heavy panting, like a wild beast's,
then came a kick on the knee, giving him such agony that he got up and,
quite blind, leapt clean under his enemy's guard. He felt blows and
kicks, but they did not hurt. He hung on to the bigger man like a wild
cat, till at last Dawes fell with a crash, losing his presence of mind.
Paul went down with him. Pure instinct brought his hands to the man's
neck, and before Dawes, in frenzy and agony, could wrench him free,
he had got his fists twisted in the scarf and his knuckles dug in the
throat of the other man. He was a pure instinct, without reason or
feeling. His body, hard and wonderful in itself, cleaved against the
struggling body of the other man; not a muscle in him relaxed. He was
quite unconscious, only his body had taken upon itself to kill this
other man. For himself, he had neither feeling nor reason. He lay
pressed hard against his adversary, his body adjusting itself to its one
pure purpose of choking the other man, resisting exactly at the right
moment, with exactly the right amount of strength, the struggles of
the other, silent, intent, unchanging, gradually pressing its knuckles
deeper, feeling the struggles of the other body become wilder and
more frenzied. Tighter and tighter grew his body, like a screw that is
gradually increasing in pressure, till something breaks.

Then suddenly he relaxed, full of wonder and misgiving. Dawes had been
yielding. Morel felt his body flame with pain, as he realised what he
was doing; he was all bewildered. Dawes's struggles suddenly renewed
themselves in a furious spasm. Paul's hands were wrenched, torn out of
the scarf in which they were knotted, and he was flung away, helpless.
He heard the horrid sound of the other's gasping, but he lay stunned;
then, still dazed, he felt the blows of the other's feet, and lost
consciousness.

Dawes, grunting with pain like a beast, was kicking the prostrate body
of his rival. Suddenly the whistle of the train shrieked two fields
away. He turned round and glared suspiciously. What was coming? He saw
the lights of the train draw across his vision. It seemed to him people
were approaching. He made off across the field into Nottingham, and
dimly in his consciousness as he went, he felt on his foot the place
where his boot had knocked