"Ye left the mark of yer claws on him, pard! Don't let him git away from ye." Again the two came together, and Blunt once more succeeded in getting under Merriwell and snapped, him over for a quick "flop." Merry, however, broke the hold as he went down, twisted to hands and knees, and bobbed up two feet away and again facing his antagonist.
The cowboys were wildly exultant.

They believed that Barzy Blunt was showing his superiority in these initial moves.
But they were mistaken.

Merry was merely trying out his adversary and calmly studying his weak and his strong points at the game.
Blunt, through lack of proper training, was making the grave mistake of using all his strength on what might be termed nonessentials.

In wrestling, no more strength should be used than the moment calls for, a reserve being held for the supreme moment.
When the wrestlers came together for the third time, the time-honored hold of "one over and one under" was secured, and Merry was satisfied.
From this, after a minute of squirming and twisting, Merry slipped to an arm-and-neck hold, his left hand about the back of Blunt's neck, right hand locked in his left elbow.

Blunt began to kick.
"Stop that!" Clancy ordered sternly.
"Never mind, Clan," said Merry, "I've got him now." With a swiftness and ease beautiful to see, Merriwell thrust his left foot between Blunt's kicking extremities, pushed the left arm farther, and completely around his neck, clung like a leech to his left elbow, twisted on his toes, bent his knees, and heaved upward.