"I've not come here to fight now," I said to Devinsky. "I'll meet you willingly enough another time, God knows. But now, I've passed my word;" and with that I raised my voice and shouted with all my strength to Prince Bilbassoff's servant, who was below, to come to my assistance.
For answer Devinsky called on a couple of men who until then had been hidden, and with drawn swords and a loud shout the three rushed forward to throw themselves upon me.
CHAPTER XXI.
THREE TO ONE.
A glance round told me the attack had been shrewdly planned indeed. The spot in which we all were was a large square anteroom or landing place, lighted from above. Four or five doors opened from it into the rooms on either side, and the narrow stairway was the only means of communication with the rest of the house. I was caught like a rat in a trap, and unless I could beat off the men who were thus attacking me at such dangerous odds, I was as good as a dead man.
I whipped out my sword and pushed Olga back into the room we had left, just in time to parry the first wild lunges Devinsky made at me; and at the first touch of the steel all my coolness came to me.
Everything must turn on the first minute or two; and knowing my man I set all my skill to work to keep him so engaged as to hamper the attempts of the other two to get to close quarters with me.
I worked back into a corner of the place, close to the door of the room, and then as I darted out lunge after lunge with the swiftest dexterity, my three opponents were compelled to get into each other's way in their hurried manoeuvres to avoid my strokes. By this means I hampered their fighting strength and lessened it by at least one man, since all three could not possibly get to strike at me at the same time. But even thus the odds were too heavy.
Devinsky was nothing like my equal with the sword, and his rage and mad hate now rendered him less deadly than usual: but with two others to help him, I could hardly hope to win in the end. For this reason as I fought I uttered shout after shout to the man below to come to my assistance.