Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/393

Rh spoke to his companion, who made answer; then he replied with the naïveté of a diverted child,

&quot;Wait till I say begin.&quot;

By repeated touches of his foot, he pushed a couch out on the floor, and proceeded leisurely to stretch his burly form upon it; when perfectly at ease, he said, simply, &quot;Now begin.&quot;

Without ado, Ben-Hur walked to his antagonist.

&quot;Defend thyself,&quot; he said.

The man, nothing loath, put up his hands.

As the two thus confronted each other in approved position, there was no discernible inequality between them; on the contrary, they were as like as brothers. To the stranger’s confident smile, Ben-Hur opposed an earnestness which, had his skill been known, would have been accepted fair warning of danger. Both knew the combat was to be mortal.

Ben-Hur feinted with his right hand. The stranger warded, slightly advancing his left arm. Ere he could return to guard, Ben-Hur caught him by the wrist in a grip which years at the oar had made terrible as a vise. The surprise was complete, and no time given. To throw himself forward; to push the arm across the man’s throat and over his right shoulder, and turn him left side front; to strike surely with the ready left hand; to strike the bare neck under the ear—were but petty divisions of the same act. No need of a second blow. The myrmidon fell heavily, and without a cry, and lay still.

Ben-Hur turned to Thord.

&quot;Ha! What! By the beard of Irmin!&quot; the latter cried, in astonishment, rising to a sitting posture. Then he laughed.

&quot;Ha, ha, ha! I could not have done it better myself.&quot;

He viewed Ben-Hur coolly from head to foot, and, rising, faced him with undisguised admiration.

&quot;It was my trick—the trick I have practised for ten years in the schools of Rome. You are not a Jew. Who are you?&quot;

&quot;You knew Arrius the duumvir.&quot;

&quot;Quintus Arrius? Yes, he was my patron.&quot;