He was not much longer left in doubt as to the cause of the
animal's excitement. A few bounds brought him unexpectedly into a
pathway, still girdled, however, by a close thicket--and having an
ascent over a hill, the top of which was of considerable elevation
compared with the plain he had been pursuing. As the horse entered this
pathway, and began the ascent, he shyed suddenly, and so abruptly, that
a less practised rider would have lost his seat.
"Quiet, beast! what do you see?"
The traveller himself looked forward at his own query, and soon
discovered the occasion of his steed's alarm. No occasion for alarm,
either, judging by appearances; no panther, no wolf, certainly--a man
only--looking innocent enough, were it not for the suspicious fact that
he seemed to have put himself in waiting, and stood directly in the
midst of the path that the horseman was pursuing.
Our traveller, as we have seen, was not wholly unprepared, as well to
expect as to encounter hostilities.
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