Half fainting with terror and anguish, she would have fallen to the ground had not Mortimer's extended arm caught her in time. He carried her prostrate form to a rocky seat close at hand, on which she rested with her head still lying on his shoulder. Augustus Horton advanced toward them, and recognized the Octoroon in the moonlight. "She here!" he cried. "Cora!" The passionate love of his guilty heart returned as he gazed upon the unconscious girl, and a thrill of jealousy vibrated through the dark recesses of his soul, as he beheld the lovely head of the Octoroon resting upon Mortimer's shoulder. "I am not surprised, Percy, at your sympathy for Gerald Leslie's daughter," he said, with a sneer; "she is, of course, one of your friends, for she dared to turn me out of her house, dismissing me from her presence as if she had been a queen." "You!" exclaimed Percy. "Yes," replied his cousin, "because I had the impertinence to pay her a few idle compliments." "Augustus Horton," said Mortimer, gravely, "you remember a clause in our contract of partnership, which provides for the agreement being canceled at pleasure, by either of the two partners?" "I do." "Then I am the first to cancel that bond. From this night I cease to be your partner." "So be it!" replied Augustus. "It is not for me to object to such a proposal, but have a care, Mortimer, and remember that by such a proceeding you lose half your estate." "I shall have enough left to enable me to live far from a country which I henceforth renounce. As to your sister, you can tell her that I restore her her liberty." "That is needless," answered Augustus, haughtily, "for she herself has declared her intention of breaking with you for ever." "How?" "She has presumed to fall in love with Mr. Gilbert Margrave, the gentleman who prefers an Octoroon to the heiress of one of the proudest families in Louisiana." "It was jealousy, then, that prompted her denunciation of Cora Leslie," said Mortimer. "It was." "So much the better for her. That, at least, is some excuse for her conduct. Hush! Here they come." Bill Bowen and the mulatto appeared, as Percy spoke, carrying between them the prostrate form of Gilbert Margrave. The young man was quite unconscious, the breast of his shirt dyed crimson by the blood which welled from his wound. Toby and Bowen placed him upon the rocky seat which had been occupied by Cora. "The ball has struck him in the side," said Bowen. "I guess it's about all over with the Britisher." At the sound of these words of evil import, Cora Leslie opened her eyes, and, beholding the bleeding and prostrate form of her lover, flung herself on her knees at his feet. "Gilbert, Gilbert!" she cried; "Dead; and I am the cause of this." The mulatto placed his hand upon the breast of the wounded man. "The heart beats, though faintly," he said; "dear mistress, he will be saved."