He had a pistol in his right hand of a portentous size, which it took me all my strength to keep deflected.

With his left arm he strained me to his bosom, so that I thought I must be crushed or stifled.

His mouth was open, his face crimson, and he panted aloud with hard animal sounds.

The affair was as brief as it was hot and sudden.
The potations which had swelled and bloated his carcase had already weakened the springs of energy.

One more huge effort, that came near to overpower me, and in which the pistol happily exploded, and I felt his grasp slacken and weakness come on his joints; his legs succumbed under his weight, and he grovelled on his knees on the stone floor.