He made a gesture as if to put his horse in motion; but Loyal Heart held it resolutely by the bridle. "We have not done yet," he remarked. The pirate looked at him for an instant with eyes injected with blood, and then said in a voice broken by passion, whilst urging on his horse to oblige the hunter to quit his hold. "What more do you want with me?" Loyal Heart, thanks to a wrist of iron, still held the horse, which plunged furiously. "You have been brought to trial," he replied, "and the law of the prairies is about to be applied to you." The pirate uttered a terrible, sneering, maniac laugh, and tore his pistols from his belt:-- "Woe be to him who touches me!" he cried, with rage, "give me way!" "No," the impassive hunter replied, "you are fairly taken, my master; this time you shall not escape me." "Die then!" cried the pirate, aiming one of his pistols at Loyal Heart. But, quick as thought, Belhumeur, who had watched his movements closely, threw himself before his friend with a swiftness increased tenfold by the seriousness of the situation. The shot was fired. The ball struck the Canadian, who fell bathed in his blood. "One!" cried the pirate, with a ferocious laugh. "_Two_!" screamed Eagle Head, and with the bound of a panther, he leaped upon the pirate's horse behind him. Before the captain could make a movement to defend himself, the Indian seized him with his left hand, by the long hair, of which he formed a tuft, and pulled him backwards violently, with his head downwards. "Curses on you!" cried the pirate, in vain endeavouring to free himself from his enemy. And then took place a scene which chilled the spectators with horror. The horse, which Loyal Heart had left his hold of, when at liberty, furious with being urged on by its master and checked by Loyal Heart, and with the double weight imposed upon it, sprang forward, mad with rage, breaking and overturning in its course every object that opposed its passage. But it still carried, clinging to its sides, the two men struggling to kill each other, and who on the back of the terrified animal writhed about like serpents. Eagle Head had, as we have said, pulled back the head of the pirate; he placed his knee against his loins, uttered his hideous war cry, and flourished with a terrible gesture his knife around the brow of his enemy. "Kill me, then, vile wretch!" the pirate cried, and with a rapid effort he raised his left hand, still armed with a pistol, but the bullet was lost in space. The Comanche chief fixed his eyes upon the captain's face. "Thou art a coward!" he said, with disgust, "and an old woman, who is afraid of death!" At the same time he pushed the bandit forcibly with his knee, and plunged the knife into his skull. The captain uttered a piercing cry, which arose into the air, mingled with the howl of triumph of the chief. The horse stumbled over a root; the two enemies rolled upon the ground. Only one rose up.