rite with such spectators as were not connected with either of
the parties. Grimes arose, and it was evident that Kelly's generosity
deepened his resentment more than the blow which had sent him so rapidly
to the ground; however, he was still cool, but his brows knit, his eye
flashed with double fierceness, and his complexion settled into a dark
blue shade, which gave to his whole visage an expression fearfully
ferocious. Kelly hailed this as the first appearance of passion; his
brow expanded as the other approached, and a dash of confidence, if not
of triumph, softened in some degree the sternness of his features.

"With caution they encountered again each collected for a spring, their
eyes gleaming at each other like those of tigers. Grimes made a motion
as if he would have struck Kelly with his fist; and, as the latter threw
up his guard against the blow, he received a stroke from Grimes's cudgel
in the under part of the right arm. This had been directed at his
elbow, with an intention of rendering the arm powerless: it fell short,
however, yet was sufficient to relax the grasp which Kelly had of his
weapon. Had Kelly been a novice, this stratagem alone would have soon
vanquished him; his address, however, was fully equal to that of his
antagonist. The staff dropped instantly from his grasp, but a stout
thong of black polished leather, with a shining tassel at the end of it,
had bound it securely to his massive wrist; the cudgel, therefore, only
dangled from his arm, and did not, as the other expected, fall to the
ground, or put Denis to the necessity of stooping for it--Grimes's
object being to have struck him in that attitude.

"A flash of indignation now shot from Kelly's eye, and with the speed of
lightning he sprung within Grimes's weapon,--determined to wrest it from
him. The grapple that ensued was gigantic. In a moment Grimes's staff
was parallel with the horizon between them, clutched in the powerful
grasp of both. They stood exactly opposite, and rather close to each
other; their arms sometimes stretched out stiff and at full length,
again contracted, until their faces, glowing and distorted by the energy
of the contest, were drawn almost together. Sometimes the prevailing
strength of one would raise the staff slowly, and with gradually
developed power, up in a perpendicular position: again the reaction of
opposing strength would strain it back, and sway the weighty frame of
the antagonist, crouched and set