The warning came too late. The young Irish horse upon which the
foremost trooper was mounted went steadily at the chasm, gathered
itself like a cat for the leap, and very nearly succeeded in achieving
it. But the weight of the rider, sheathed as he was in heavy armour,
was too much for its strength. It alighted, indeed, with its forefeet
on the turf, made one convulsive struggle, and then fell heavily down
the precipice. There was a sullen plunge, but no cry arose from the
abyss.
"Weel," said the Scot, as he dismounted and peered over the edge of
the rock, "that was a maist fearsome loup! Puir O'Rafferty! I aye
tellt him he was a fule, and noo the fact has become maist veesible to
ocular demonstration. I maun hae a shot, tho', at that lang chield wi'
the feathers."
So saying, he unbuckled his carabine, and took deliberate aim over his
saddle. But the villanous purpose was frustrated. No sooner had the
fugitives halted, than the jaguar returned, creeping stealthily to the
brink, and measuring the distance for its spring. The eyes of the Scot
was intent upon his victim, his finger was placed upon the trigger,
when, with a tremendous roar, the panther cleared the gulf, and seized
the trooper by the throat. He spoke one sentence, and nothing more.
"Wha will tell this in Dysart, that I suld hae lived to be worried by
a wull-cat?"
Next evening, in a cool grotto of the mountains, on a couch of the
softest moss, far away from ravage and misery, and the armed grasp of
the assassin, Manco Capl and Oneiza sung their bridal hymn.
"Oh, dearer than the evening star, art thou to me, my love! It gleams
in glory from afar in yonder heaven above. But thou art in my arms, my
sweet, nor nearer canst thou be! Where is thy soul, Oneiza?"
"With thee, my lord, with thee!"
* * * * *
"My humble opinion," said the Doctor, after listening to the foregoing
pages--"my humble opinion is, that they manage matters better at
Astley's."
SENTIMENTS AND SYMBOLS OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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