He was accustomed to the use of steel and the hobnails on his boots.

He struck wildly, swinging his arms like a Flemish mill in a brisk wind.
Some of his blows got home, but these provoked only sardonic laughter.
Wild with rage and pain he bored in.

He had but one chance--to get this shadow in his gorilla-like arms.

He lacked mental flexibility.

An idea, getting into his head, stuck; it was not adjustable.