Would the thumbs go down or up?
Life and death held the chances even; but it was at the will of Heaven, not of the stars.

"Hoc habet" must follow the stroke ordered from beyond the astral clusters and the dusky blue.
Hamilton pressed, nay rushed, the fight with a weight and at a pace which could not last.

But Father Beret withstood him so firmly that he made no farther headway; he even lost some ground a moment later.
"You damned Jesuit hypocrite!" he snarled; "you lowest of a vile brotherhood of liars!" Then he rushed again, making a magnificent show of strength, quickness and accuracy.

The sparks hissed and crackled from the rasping and ringing blades.
Father Beret was, in truth, a Jesuit, and as such a zealot; but he was not a liar or a hypocrite.

Being human, he resented an insult.