Page:Rowland--The closing net.djvu/350

328 had made a jump for the wall. Yells and orders were ringing out from up by the house and men were crashing down the hill. Chu-Chu was somewhere in the thicket, and I wanted him bad; so I started in on hands and knees. His pistol cracked in front of me, and the blood came pouring down into my eyes, but I caught a glimpse of him huddled behind the chestnut, ten feet in front of me, and I took a snapshot and smashed his hand as it was shoved out, gripping his weapon. He snarled like a cat, then came bounding out from behind his tree; and, though my gun went off against his body, it never stopped him, and the next instant his grip was on my wrist and his teeth in the muscles of my neck. I got my left arm clear, however, and as we rolled over, lashing out like a couple of wild beasts, I got the hilt of my knife with my left hand, and, squirming up on top, I let the life out of him.