At one moment he had
drawn his pistol to his eye--his finger rested upon the trigger, and the
doubt which interposed between the youth and eternity, though it
sufficed for his safety then, was of the most slight and shadowy
description. A second time did the mood of murder savagely possess his
soul, and the weapon's muzzle fell pointblank upon the devoted bosom of
Ralph; when the slight figure of the young woman passing between, again
arrested the design of the outlaw, who, with muttered curses, uncocking,
returned the weapon to his belt.
Whatever might have been the relationship between himself and these
females, there was an evident reluctance on the part of Rivers to
exhibit his ferocious hatred of the youth before those to whom he had
just rendered a great and unquestioned service; and, though untroubled
by any feeling of gratitude on their behalf, or on his own, he was yet
unwilling, believing, as he did, that his victim was now perfectly
secure, that they should undergo any further shock, at a moment too of
such severe suffering and trial as must follow in the case of the
younger, from those fatal pangs which were destroying the other.
Pages:
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565