Part 31 (1/2)
It was there, notwithstanding--in fiendish shape and close proxi to hiive for a knife with a blade six inches long!”
Then, with a sudden change of thought, seeing the chance to do without the knife,a dash forward, with the ape-like ar the sentinel over!
The cry that ca the i to the bottom of the cliff
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
ON DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
”Dead!” muttered the inhuman wretch, as he stood upon the spot late occupied by his victi down over the cliff ”Dead he must be; unless a man can fall two hundred feet and still live; which isn't likely That clears the way, I take it; and unless I have the ill luck to ht As sound ascends, I ought to hear them before they could _see_which he _co in the sae, which, after running fifty yards in a direct line, made an abrupt double back in the opposite direction, all the while obliquing doards Another sith of declivity traversed, and he found hi trees He re it on their way up they had followed the trend of the cliff for uide, he kept on along the back track
Not far, before seeing that which brought him to a stop If he had entertained any doubt about the sentinel being dead, it would have been resolved now There lay thethe loose rocks, not only lifeless, but shapeless A break in the continuity of the ti the murderer a full view of him he had murdered
The sentinel had fallen upon his back, and lay with his face upward, his crushed body doubled over a boulder; the blood elling frohastly in the white, weird light It was a sight to inspire fear in the mind of an ordinary individual, even in that of a e _lusus_ of hue was equal to his cruelty
Instead of giving the body a wide berth, and scared-like stealing past, he walked boldly up to it, saying in apostrophe--
”So you're there! Well, you need not blame me, but your luck If I hadn't pushed you over, you'd have shot un Aha! I was too much for you, Mr Monk or soldier, whichever you were, for you're neither now
”Just possible,” he continued, changing the forue, ”he may have a purse; the which I'm sure to stand in need of before this time to-morrow If without money, his weapons may be of use to me”
With a ni pockets, he soon touched the bottom of all those on the body, to find the back with a disappointed air, ”Iin theo, and their ill soon be out too His gun I don't care for; besides, I see it's broken;--yes, the stock snapped clean off But this stiletto, it's worth taking with me Even if I shouldn't need it as a weapon, it looks like a thing Mr pawnbroker would appreciate”
snatching the dagger--a silver-hilted one--from the corpse of its ill-starred owner, he secreted it inside his tattered rag of a coat, and without delay proceeded on
Soon after he ca the cliff, turned to the left, down the slope of the al, where he did not desire to go Besides his doubts of being able to find the way through the lava field, there was no particular need for his atteet back to the city by the most direct route, and as soon as possible into the presence of amuch For from this man he expected much, in return for a tale he could tell him It must be told direct, and for this reason all caution was required He ht fall into hands that would not only hinder hiht quarter, but prevent his telling it at all
Just where the path diverged to the left, going down to the Pedregal, a mass of rocks rose bare above the tops of the trees Cla to its summit he obtained a viehat lay below; the whole valley bathed in bright reat sheets of water with haze hanging over theauzy as a bridal veil The city itself was distinguishable at a long distance, and in places nearer specklings of white telling of sole spots where stood a _rancho_ or _hacienda_ Closer still, als was nised as the _pueblo_ of San Augustin A narrow ribbon-like strip of greyish white passing through it, and on to the city, he knew to be the Great Southern or Acapulco Road, which enters the capital by the _garita_ of San Antonio de Abad This route he decided on taking
Having s, he slipped back down the side of the rock, and looked about for a path leading to the right
Not long till he discovered one, a h the underwood--sufficiently practicable for hile of thicket Sprawling along it, and rapidly, despite all obstructions, he at length came out on the Acapulco Road, a wide causeith the moon full upon it
The track was easy and clear even now, too clear to satisfy hiustin had to be passed through, and he knew that in it were both _serenos_ and _alguazils_
Besides, he had heard the _moxos_ at the monastery speak of troops stationed there, and patrols at all hours along the roads around If taken up by these he ht still hope to reach his intended destination; but neither in the time he desired, nor the way he wished Hean interview, not as a prisoner but voluntarily And he s effectual, as the reward he was dreaed by these reflections, heto the dusty road,it In one way the ht, for it was still a deep descent towards the valley, and carried by zig-zags; so that at each angle he was enabled to scan the stretch ahead, and see that it was clear, before exposing himself upon it Then he would advance rapidly on the next turning-point, stop again, and reconnoitre
Thus alternately th reached the outskirts of the _pueblo_, unchallenged and unobserved But the probleh it; all the more difficult at that early hour
He had heard the church clock tolling the hours as he came down the ht, the villagers would be all abroad; and hoas he to appear in the street without attracting notice--he above all men? His deformity of itself would betray him An expression of blackest bitterness came over his features as he thus reflected But it was not a tiot through somehow, if he could not find a way around it
For this last he had been looking soht and left
To his joy, just as he caught sight of the first houses--villa residences they were, far straggling along the road--a lane running in behind them seemed to promise what he was in search of Froe, without the necessity of passing through the _plaza_, or at all entering upon the streets Without ed into the lane