Two men abreast could not beset him, since one must cumber the movements of the other.

If they came at him one at a time, he felt that he could continue that fight till morning, should there still by then be any left to face him.
A wild exultation took him, an insane desire to laugh.

Surely was sword-play the merriest game that was ever devised for man's entertainment.

He straightened his arm, and his steel went out like a streak of lightning.

But for the dagger on which he caught its edge, the blade had assuredly pierced the captain's heart.