Now Arnold precisely and clearly said, "Check."
Matterson swore and snapped his fingers and moved.
Again Arnold moved, and again he said, "Check!"
Matterson bent over the board and frowned. After a long delay he moved once more.
Instantly Arnold moved again and in his calm voice repeated, "Check!"
Matterson looked up at him with a strange new respect in his eyes.
"You win!" he cried with an oath. "You've done well. I didn't think you could. You are a chess-player."
"I have played a good deal," Arnold quietly replied.
"You have played with better men than Sim Muzzy."
"Yes." For a moment Arnold hesitated, then he added: "I have beaten at chess a great man. It was like to have cost me my sword and my head."