In grim silence I ran on--bending every nerve and sinew to overtake him. We were now on a long, level plateau, perhaps three hundred yards in length. I uttered one long, loud cry. Startled by the nearness of the sound, he slackened his pace for an instant, and made as though to turn and meet me. But his heart failed him, and with an exclamation of despair, he cast the lady upon the ground, and abandoning her, rushed on. Not for aught would I have halted then, for I was too near a final reckoning with this villain who had hounded me so long. To-night we would settle our quarrel for aye, and so swerving aside from Margaret, who lay white and still where she had fallen, I ran on after him. I would overtake him, cost what it might, or die in the attempt. A few more bounds now, and he would be in my grasp. "Curse thee!" he cried as I drew closer. "I believe 'tis as the priest says, that thou art leagued with the evil one himself." I made no answer. I was too near him to waste useless breath, for I needed all my wind and strength too in that mad race. "Thou hast won at every point!" he shouted bitterly; "hast beaten me at every move, and for this I curse thee, now and hereafter. If it be possible I would sell my soul to the devil himself, if I might come back once more to earth to haunt and torment thee. I despise thee with a bitter, unrelenting hatred, such as I have never borne before for man or beast, for thou hast robbed me of her for whom I have plotted and schemed for weary months," and he gave a snarl of rage. I was upon him now, and with a cry of triumph I gathered myself for one great spring, which would land me upon his back. But even as I drew myself together to leap he threw up both hands and gave a scream of mortal despair as though he were in the grasp of death itself. As it rang out upon the night air he plunged forward, down, and out of sight, his hands clutching and grasping at the earth to save himself; for there, yawning dark and deep before me, was a great precipice, its deep sides falling abruptly away, with no tree or vegetation to check the fall below upon the solid rock. I dug my feet desperately into the ground to save myself, for if I went down there was no help for it, I would be dashed to pieces. My feet slipped forward over the brink of the precipice, and clutching despairingly at the stone ledge, I caught it with my right hand, and so hung over that yawning abyss by one hand; for my left arm was broken and useless.