Their victim had not yet
made his appearance, and they had sufficient time for all their
arrangements. The place was one well calculated for the successful
accomplishment of a deed of darkness. The road at the foot of the hill
narrowed into a path scarcely wide enough for the passage of a single
horseman. The shrubbery and copse on either side overhung it, and in
many places were so thickly interwoven, that when, as at intervals of
the night, the moon shone out among the thick and broken clouds which
hung upon and mostly obscured her course, her scattered rays scarcely
penetrated the dense enclosure.
At length the horseman approached, and in silence. Descending the hill,
his motion was slow and tedious. He entered the fatal avenue; and, when
in the midst of it, Rivers started from the side of his comrade, and,
advancing under the shelter of a tree, awaited his progress. He came--no
word was spoken--a single stroke was given, and the horseman, throwing
up his hands, grasped the limb which projected over, while his horse
passed from under him.
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