The Phantom Regiment; or, Stories of "Ours"Grant, James
General
The Phantom Regiment; or, Stories of "Ours"
Grant, James
Adventure stories; British -- Foreign countries -- Fiction; Soldiers -- Fiction
"By order of Don Julian, who had watched this scene of butchery with
folded arms and an immovable aspect, the body was tossed over the
window, from whence I heard it falling heavily from rock to rock
before it reached the deep, dark water of a tributary of the Tagus,
that struggled through a chasm in the cliffs, two hundred feet below.
"While the half-drunken banditti cursed and yelled like fiends, they
cast the dead body of their comrade after that of the unfortunate
potter, then wiped and sheathed their poniards; and all traces of the
horrible occurrence disappeared, save the red blood gouts upon the
floor, which these European Thugs never thought of cleansing; but
trampled to and fro among that frightful puddle as heedlessly as if
it had been so much spring water spilt by accident.
"Teresa had swooned, and hung on my arm in a happy state of
insensibility.
"Isacco Zendono, who had suffered severely in the melée, during his
prostrate position on the floor, now scrambled up, his heart burning
with fury, and his body smarting with pain. He was plastered with
the gore of the slain men; and its dripping from his sable beard and
matted hair no way improved his personal appearance, or increased the
benevolence of his features.
"Growling at the weight of his comrades' heels, he demanded in a
stentorian voice that lots should be cast for possession of the
Señora Teresa; a proposition at once acceded to.
"Dice were produced, and the beetle-browed banditti crowded round a
table, where they rattled and threw the dice in succession.
"The Jew uttered a yell.
"He had won!
"Diable! how like a victorious fiend he seemed, as, with a shout of
villanous joy, he snatched the poor insensible victim from my arms,
and with his poniard menacing any man who dared to follow, bore her
off, bent double over his left arm, as easily as he would have done a
folded mantle.
"Poor Teresa! she was so slight and young.
"Monsieur, I am not quite such a bad or wild fellow as, perhaps, you
may think me; and I do assure you that I then felt my impetuous blood
tingling in every vein. I sprang after the dog Zendono, but was
restrained by the powerful and perhaps friendly arm of Don Julian
d'Aviero.
"'Señor!' he exclaimed, in a whisper, 'are you mad? Remember your
life is at stake, and ponder well on the helplessness of your
condition among us.'
"The truth of this came bitterly home to my heart; I gave the speaker
a fierce and reproachful glance, and folded my arms in silence.
"My heart bled for the unhappy girl.
* * * * * *
"Frequently in that long and dreary night, when the mountain blast
howled drearily through the shattered villa of Aviero, and moaned in
the gorge through which the Tagus wound, I heard the cries and
lamentations of the miserable girl, and the oaths and revelry of
those to whom she was now abandoned.
"Ere daybreak her cries had ceased. Mille Baionettes! they nearly
drove me mad.
"What became of her I know not, as I never saw her again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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