the worst of
this; though my heavier body took punishment better than his lighter and
more nervous frame. Then suddenly it occurred to me that I was playing
his game for him. As long as he could keep away from me, he was at an
advantage. My best chance was to close.

From that moment I took the aggressive, and was in consequence the more
punished. My rushes to close in were skilfully eluded; and they
generally laid me wide open. My head was singing, and my sight
uncertain; though I was in no real distress. Ward danced away and
slipped around tense as a panther.

Then, by a very simple ruse, I got hold of him. I feinted at rushing
him, stopped and hit instead, and then, following closely the blow,
managed to seize his arm. For ten seconds he jerked and twisted and
struggled to release himself. Then suddenly he gave that up, dove
forward, and caught me in a grapevine.

He was a fairly skilful wrestler, and very strong. It was as though he
were made of whalebone springs. But never yet have I met a man of my
weight who possessed the same solid strength; and Ward would tip the
scales at considerably less. I broke his hold, and went after him.

He was as lively as an exceedingly slippery fish. Time after time he all
but wriggled from my grasp; and time after time he broke my hold by
sheer agility. His exertions must have been to him something terrible,
for they required every ounce of his strength at the greatest speed. I
could, of course, take it much easier, and every instant I expected to
feel him weaken beneath my hands; but apparently he was as vigorous as
ever. He was in excellent training. At last, however, I managed to jerk
him whirling past me, to throw his feet from under him, and to drop him
beneath me. As he fell he twisted, and by a sheer fluke I caught his
wrist.

Thus through no great skill of my own the fortunes of war had given me a
hammerlock on him. Most people know what that is. Any one else can find
out by placing his forearm across the small of his back and then getting
somebody else to press upward on the forearm. The Greek statue of "The
Wrestlers" illustrates it. As the pressure increases, so does the pain.
When the pain becomes intense enough, the wrestler rolls over and the
contest is won. Some people can stand it longer than others; but all
sooner or later must give up. In fact, skilled wrestlers, knowing that
otherwise the inevitable end is a broken arm, save themselves much
tribulation by i