| The leader turned to them and gave a word at... 798 |
[Jan. 28th, 2010|02:12 am] |
The leader turned to them and gave a word at which every man of the gypsy party drew what weapon he carried, knife or pistol, and held himself in readiness to attackIssue was joined in an instant
The leader, with a quick movement of his rein, threw his horse out in front, and pointed first to the sun, now close down on the hill tops, and then to the castle, said something which I did not understandFor answer, all four men of our party threw themselves from their horses and dashed towards the cartI should have felt terrible fear at seeing Jonathan in such danger, but that the ardor of battle must have been upon me as well as the rest of themI felt no fear, but only a wild, surging desire to do somethingSeeing the quick movement of our parties, the leader of the gypsies gave a commandHis men instantly formed round the cart in a sort of undisciplined endeavour, each one shouldering and pushing the other in his eagerness to carry out the order
In the midst of this I could see that Jonathan on one side of the ring of men, and Quincey on the other, were forcing a way to the cartIt was evident that they were bent on finishing their task before the sun should setNothing seemed to stop or even to hinder themNeither the levelled weapons nor the flashing knives of the gypsies in front, nor the howling of the wolves behind, appeared to even attract their attentionJonathan's impetuosity, and the manifest singleness of his purpose, seemed to overawe those in front of himInstinctively they cowered aside and let him passIn an instant he had jumped upon the cart, and with a strength which seemed incredible, raised the great box, and flung it over the wheel to the groundMorris had had to use force to pass through his side of the ring of SzganyAll the time I had been breathlessly watching Jonathan I had, with the tail of my eye, seen him pressing desperately forward, and had seen the knives of the gypsies flash as he won a way through them, and they cut at himHe had parried with his great bowie knife, and at first I thought that he too had come through in safetyBut as he sprang beside Jonathan, who had by now jumped from the cart, I could see that with his left hand he was clutching at his side, and that the blood was spurting through his fingersHe did not delay notwithstanding this, for as Jonathan, with desperate energy, attacked one end of the chest, attempting to prize off the lid with his great Kukri knife, he attacked the other frantically with his bowieUnder the efforts of both men the lid began to yieldThe nails drew with a screeching sound, and the top of the box was thrown back
By this time the gypsies, seeing themselves covered by the Winchesters, and at the mercy of Lord Godalming and DrSeward, had given in and made no further resistanceThe sun was almost down on the mountain tops, and the shadows of the whole group fell upon the snowI saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over himHe was deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I knew so well
As I looked, the eyes saw the sinking sun, and the look of hate in them turned to triumph
But, on the instant, came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knifeI shrieked as I saw it shear through the throatWhilst at the same moment MrMorris's bowie knife plunged into the heart
It was like a miracle, but before our very eyes, and almost in the drawing of a breath, the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight
I shall be glad as long as I live that even in that moment of final dissolution, there was in the face a look of peace, such as I never could have imagined might have rested there
The Castle of Dracula now stood out against the red sky, and every stone of its broken battlements was articulated against the light of the setting sun
The gypsies, taking us as in some way the cause of the extraordinary disappearance of the dead man, turned, without a word, and rode away as if for their livesThose who were unmounted jumped upon the leiter wagon and shouted to the horsemen not to desert themThe wolves, which had withdrawn to a safe distance, followed in their wake, leaving us aloneMorris, who had sunk to the ground, leaned on his elbow, holding his hand pressed to his sideThe blood still gushed through his |
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