পাতা:সদগুণ ও বীর্য্যের ইতিহাস.djvu/২০৭

I 204 1 and then it was that Sir John's mind. reognized the deepest sense of danger. He thought all chance of preserving his own life was over, but he resolved to part with that life only by the death of some of the murderers. The moment the villains entered the room, he struck at the first fellow with his knife, and woundedhim. At the same instant one of them gave him a blow on the head, and grappled with him. He stabbed at the fellow with whom he found himself engaged. The floor being slippery with blood, Sir John and his adversary both fell, and while they were on the ground, Sir John thinking that his thrusts with the knife, though made with all his force, did not seem to produce the decisive effect which they had in the beginning of the conflict, he examined the point of his weapon with his finger, and found that the blade of it had been ‘bent near the point. As he lay struggling on the ground, he endeavoured, but un