But at the moment I thought nothing
of this nor of her delay; and I was following her quite at my
leisure and picking my way, when the sudden report of a carbine,
a second report, and a yell of alarm in front thrilled me
through.
On the instant, while the sound was still in my ears, I saw it
all. Like a hot iron piercing my brain the truth flashed into my
mind. We were attacked! We were attacked, and I was here
helpless in this pit, this trap! The loss of a second while I
fumbled here, Mademoiselle's horse barring the way, might be
fatal.
There was but one way. I turned my horse straight at the steep
bank, and he breasted it. One moment he hung as if he must fall
back. Then, with a snort of terror and a desperate bound, he
topped it, and gained the level, trembling and snorting.
Seventy paces away on the road lay one of my men. He had fallen,
horse and man, and lay still. Near him, with his back against a
bank, stood his fellow, on foot, pressed by four horsemen, and
shouting. As my eye lighted on the scene he let fly with a
carbine, and dropped one. I clutched a pistol from my holster
and seized my horse by the head.
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