It
was to have been two hours after day-break this morning, but Juan here
tells me it was postponed till noon. The King--"
He was proceeding, when he was startled by a sharp cry, and Perez,
hastily turning, caught the novice as he was in the act of falling
from his horse. In an instant, however, he recovered, and exclaiming,
in a thrilling tone of excitement--
"Father Ambrose said life or death hung upon our speed and promptness;
he knew not the short interval allowed us. This young foreigner is
innocent--the real murderer is discovered. On--, on, for mercy, or we
shall be too late!"--gave his horse the rein, and the animal started
off at full speed. Perez was at his side in an instant, leaving his
friend open-mouthed with astonishment, and retailing the marvellous
news into twenty different quarters in as many seconds.
Not a word was spoken; not a moment did the fiery chargers halt in
their headlong way. On, on they went; on, over wide moors and craggy
steeps; on, through the rushing torrent and the precipitous glen;
on, through the forest and the plain, with the same unwavering pace.
Repeatedly did Marie's brain reel, and her heart grow sick, and her
limbs lose all power either to guide or feel; but she neither spoke
nor flagged--convulsively she grasped the reins, and closed her eyes,
as the voice and hand of her companion urged their steeds swifter and
yet swifter on.
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