A hundred yards further, and I found I must decide at once upon the
course to pursue. My horse seemed about to fall. At every stroke of the
spur he groaned piteously, and his limp had become a stagger.
I looked around through the trees, and at the distance of a quarter of
a mile I saw the glimmer of a light. To obtain another horse was
indispensable under the circumstances; and looking to see that my
revolver was loaded and capped, I forced my tottering animal toward the
mansion in which the light glimmered.
My design was simply to proceed thither, "impress" a fresh horse at the
pistol's muzzle; throw my saddle upon him; leave my own animal, and
proceed on my way.
Pushing across the fields, and dismounting to let down the fences which
my limping animal could not leap, I soon approached the light. It shone
through the window of a house of some size, with ornamental grounds
around it, and apparently the abode of a man of means.
At fifty paces from it I dismounted and tethered my horse in the shadow
of some trees. A brief reconnaissance under the circumstances was
advisable; and approaching the mansion silently, without allowing my
sabre to make any clatter, I gained the long portico in front, and went
to a window reaching down to the flooring of the verandah.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94