So absorbed was he that he did not notice me standing full before him.

Nay, he lifted his head, and gave me the finest chance of my life.

I was something of a boxer, and all my accumulated fury went into the blow.

It caught him on the point of the chin, and his neck cricked like the bolt of a rifle.

He fell limply on the ground and the jewels dropped from his hand.
I picked them up and stuffed them into my breeches pocket.
Then I pulled the pistol out of his belt.