Peters, whilst his
brute instinct was in full possession of him, might, instead of dropping
Ahpilus to the ground, have thrown the body into the abyss; but Diregus
had anticipated such an action, and called to Peters not to injure the
poor insane fellow more than was necessary to prevent him from injuring
others. Ahpilus was not dead--that is, he was not dead over his entire
body: the hips and all below were as nerveless as the body of a corpse;
but above the hips, the same old vigor remained--and so it would be
though he lived for yet a hundred years."
Here Doctor Bainbridge ceased to speak. Doctor Castleton had entered the
room two or three minutes before, and, keeping silent, had heard the
last three or four hundred words, which described the close of that
brief but terrible combat.
The FIFTEENTH Chapter
"Well," said Doctor Castleton, as Bainbridge closed. "Peters could, when
he was fifty years younger, have done that very thing to any living man
weighing not more than a hundred and eighty or a hundred and ninety
pounds. I myself have seen him throw to the ground a powerful horse, and
the little giant must have been older than sixty at the time. Then
again, he possesses that wonderful instinct of certainty in action which
belongs to purely animal life.
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