The maiden interrupted with
rapid tones the speech he was about to commence:--
"Fly, sir--fly. There is no time to be lost. You have lingered too long
already. Do not hesitate longer--you have heard the determination of
Rivers--this disappointment will only make him more furious. Fly, then,
and speak not. Take the left road at the fork: it leads to the river. It
is the dullest, and if they pursue, they will be most likely to fall
into the other."
"Farewell, then, my good, my protecting angel--I shall not forget
you--have no apprehensions for me--I have now but few for myself. Yet,
ere I go--" and he bent down, and before she was conscious of his
design, his lips were pressed warmly to her pale and beautiful forehead.
"Be not vexed--chide me not," he murmured--"regard me as a brother--if I
live I shall certainly become one. Farewell!"
Leaping with a single bound to his saddle, he stood erect for a moment,
then vigorously applying his spurs, he had vanished in an instant from
the sight.
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