The veteran lingered a few minutes, while the clattering of hoofs was to
be heard, or the gleam of arms was visible, to hear and gaze at sounds
and sights that he still loved; after which, he proceeded, in person,
and not without a secret enjoyment of the excitement, to barricade the
doors and windows, with an undaunted determination of making, in case of
need, a stout defence.
St. Ruth lay but a short two miles from the ocean; to which numerous
roads led, through the grounds of the abbey, which extended to the
shore. Along one of these paths Dillon conducted his party, until, after
a few minutes of hard riding, they approached the cliffs, when, posting
his troopers under cover of a little copse, the cornet rode in advance
with his guide, to the verge of the perpendicular rocks, whose bases
were washed by the foam that still whitened the waters from the surges
of the subsiding sea.
The gale had broken before the escape of the prisoners; and as the power
of the eastern tempest had gradually diminished, a light current from
the south, that blew directly along the land, prevailed; and, though the
ocean still rolled in fearful billows, their surfaces were smooth, and
they were becoming, at each moment, less precipitous and more regular.
The eyes of the horsemen were cast in vain over the immense expanse of
water that was glistening brightly under the rays of the sun, which had
just risen from its bosom, in quest of some object or distant sail that
might confirm their suspicions, or relieve their doubts.
Pages:
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243