His life was in her hands.

So the weak had no mercy on the strong.

But man, too, was then, even more than now, a lonely wrestler in a crowded arena.
Brute force alone gave him distinction in courts; wealth alone brought him justice in the halls, or gave him safety in his home.

Suddenly the frail puny lean saw that he could reach the mortal part of his giant foe.

The noiseless sling was in his hand,--it smote Goliath from afar.
Suddenly the poor man, ground to the dust, spat upon by contempt, saw through the crowd of richer kinsmen, who shunned and bade him rot; saw those whose death made him heir to lordship and gold and palaces and power and esteem.