Already word that the woods-boss was battling with a stranger had
been shouted into the camp dining room, and the entire crew of that
camp, abandoning their half-finished meal, came pouring forth to view
the contest. Out of the tail of his eye Bryce saw them coming, but he
was not apprehensive, for he knew the code of the woodsman: "Let
every man roll his own hoop." It would be a fight to a finish, for no
man would interfere; striking, kicking, gouging, biting, or choking
would not be looked upon as unsportsmanlike; and as Bryce backed
cautiously away from the huge, lithe, active, and powerful man before
him, he realized that Jules Rondeau was, as his father had stated,
"top dog among the lumberjacks."
Rondeau, it was apparent, had no stomach for Bryce's style of combat.
He wanted a rough-and-tumble fight and kept rushing, hoping to
clinch; if he could but get his great hands on Bryce, he would
wrestle him down, climb him, and finish the fight in jig-time. But a
rough-and-tumble was exactly what Bryce was striving to avoid; hence
when Rondeau rushed, Bryce side-stepped and peppered the woodsman's
ribs. But the woods-crew, which by now was ringed around them, began
to voice disapproval of this style of battle.
"Clinch with him, dancing-master," a voice roared.
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