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Page 43
"Not so the younger. With a rush he left his post and in another
instant would have had his powerful arms about her slender form, only
that I met him half way with a blow that laid him on the floor at her
feet. She said nothing, but one of the bills immediately left her hand
and fluttered into the fire where it instantly shrivelled into
nothing.
"With the yell of a mad beast wounded in his most vulnerable spot, the
old man before us stamped with his heel upon the floor.
"'Stop!' cried he; and going rapidly to the front door he opened it.
'There!' shrieked he, 'if you will be fools, go! and may the
lightning blast you. But first give me the money.'
"'Come from the door,' said she, reaching out her left hand for the
lantern hanging at the side of the fireplace, 'and let Karl light
this and keep himself out of the way.'
"It was all done. In less time than I can tell it, the old man had
stepped from the door, the younger one had lit the lantern and we
were in readiness to depart.
"'Now do you proceed,' said she to me, 'I will follow.'
"'No,' said I, 'we will go together.'
"'But the money? ' growled the heavy voice of my host over my
shoulder.
"'I will give it to you on my return,' said the girl.
CHAPTER XII
A WOMAN'S LOVE
"Shall I ever forget the blast of driving rain that struck our faces
and enveloped us in a cloud of wet, as the door swung on its hinges
and let us forth into the night; or the electric thrill that shot
through me as that slender girl grasped my hand and drew me away
through the blinding darkness. It was not that I was so much
affected by her beauty as influenced by her power and energy. The fury
of the gale seemed to bend to her will, the wind lend wings to her
feet. I began to realize what intellect was. Arrived at the roadside,
she paused and looked back. The two burly forms of the men we had left
behind us were standing in the door of the inn; in another moment
they had plunged forth and towards us. With a low cry the young girl
leaped towards a tree where to my unbounded astonishment I beheld my
horse standing ready saddled. Dragging the mare from her fastenings,
she hung the lantern, burning as it was, on the pommel of the saddle,
struck the panting creature a smart blow upon the flank, and drew back
with a leap to my side.
"The startled horse snorted, gave a plunge of dismay and started away
from us down the road.
"'We will wait,' said Luttra.
"The words were no sooner out of her mouth than her father and brother
rushed by.
"'They will follow the light,' whispered she; and seizing me again by
the hand, she hurried me away in the direction opposite to that which
the horse had taken. 'If you will trust me, I will bring you to
shelter,' she murmured, bending her slight form to the gusty wind but
relaxing not a whit of her speed.
"'You are too kind,' I murmured in return. 'Why should you expose
yourself to such an extent for a stranger?'
"Her hand tightened on mine, but she did not reply, and we hastened on
as speedily as the wind and rain would allow. After a short but
determined breasting of the storm, during which my breath had nearly
failed me, she suddenly stopped.
"'Do you know,' she exclaimed in a low impressive tone, 'that we are
on the verge of a steep and dreadful precipice? It runs along here
for a quarter of a mile and it is not an uncommon thing for a horse
and rider to be dashed over it in a night like this.'
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