From the sound of it, several of the men were drinking heavily. At one point, he froze when a gunshot cracked. He thought he had been spotted, but instead of a headlong charge up the hillside, the men rushed toward one of the fires. Two men squared off close to the flames, the others gathered around as the center men circled each other. The fight erupted all of a sudden when one of the men charged the other. Both fell to the ground, and the others closed in for a few seconds, egging the combatants on. The circle expanded again as both men struggled to their feet. Even at this distance, Ted could hear the grunts of the men as they swung and missed. Now and then a punch would connect, and the thud of fist on flesh sounded like a poleax felling a steer for slaughter. All of the men, audience and fighters, were etched like charcoal smears. Their shadows twisted like panic-stricken snakes as the circle opened and closed. The two men at the center occasionally passed close to the flames. Three men threw a few more logs on the fire.
