He knew it now, outlined
against the heavens, and fired his revolver. He knew that he had hit his
man, and that Rawdon was wounded in the body or in the upper part of a
leg. Hurriedly he pursued, entering the strip of woodland towards the
brook, when something fell upon him, and two keen qualms of pain shot
through his breast. Then he lay insensible. Meanwhile, a lithe active
form, leaving a horse tethered at the gate, had sprung to meet a second
intruder, issuing from the front door of Bridesdale. The opposing forces
met, and Mr. Bangs had his hands upon the younger gaol breaker. A loud
shout brought Timotheus on the scene, and the prisoner was secured. The
household was aroused. The Squire found his office a scene of confusion,
his safe broken open, the hidden treasure and many of his papers gone.
Inwardly he muttered maledictions on the sentry of the watch, little
knowing that the burglars had entered the house while he was himself on
guard. In his vexation, and the general excitement, with the presence of
Miss Graves and Messrs. Douglas and Bangs, the unhappy lawyer's absence
was overlooked.
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