Jackson Gregory

“ One might fancy that he heard the hammering of their hearts, despair in one not untinged with wild hope, victory in the other touched with dread. For Tiyo could hear Muyingwa's whistling breath close upon his right, a step behind.
So they came to the worst of the broken ground not a dozen yards from the circle Inaa had drawn. Here an exhausted man might fall if he were not wary. In each of the bursting hearts was the same thought: if a man fall now he sees his rival win. ”

“ Then men shouted as they had not shouted until now, so that Inaa's voice and Nayangap's were lost in the thunderous roar. The cañon echoes went mad with the word, "Tiyo, Tiyo, Tiyo!"
The cañon walls themselves seemed to have awakened, moved at last from their cold slumber, and to be shouting, "Muyingwa!" Northrup heard men yelling about him, and did not know that his own voice was lending its volume to theirs.
Would the men never get to their feet? ”

“ It seemed as if they were seeking to drive men mad, lifting their feet so slowly, holding them so long suspended in air, taking such puny, baby steps ahead. Even their faces were drawn into grotesque grins, as if they were mocking those who clamored for them, jeering at the world. ”