As I did so, I kept a grip upon the man's arm, carrying it over one
shoulder. Then I leaned suddenly forward and hurled my antagonist
over my head to a hasty fall at the opposite side of the hut. In
the dim light of the interior I saw that Nobs had already accounted
for one of the others--one who lay very quiet upon the floor--while
the four remaining upon their feet were striking at him with knives
and hatchets.
Running to one side of the man I had just put out of the fighting,
I seized his hatchet and knife, and in another moment was in the
thick of the argument. I was no match for these savage warriors
with their own weapons and would soon have gone down to ignominious
defeat and death had it not been for Nobs, who alone was a match
for the four of them. I never saw any creature so quick upon its
feet as was that great Airedale, nor such frightful ferocity as he
manifested in his attacks. It was as much the latter as the former
which contributed to the undoing of our enemies, who, accustomed
though they were to the ferocity of terrible creatures, seemed awed
by the sight of this strange beast from another world battling at
the side of his equally strange master. Yet they were no cowards,
and only by teamwork did Nobs and I overcome them at last. We
would rush for a man, simultaneously, and as Nobs leaped for him
upon one side, I would strike at his head with the stone hatchet
from the other.
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