shieldingly

You bloody Polak coward! "and with a speed in comparison to which lightning is snail-like the tower reached twice for the peaches-and-cream cheeks of the prone victim; who set up a tragic bellowing of his own, writhed upon his somewhat dislocated _paillasse_, raised his elbows shieldingly, and started to get to his feet by way of his trembling knees -- to be promptly knocked flat.

The Enormous Room 1928