Several Raised Their Voices Against My Proposition, But The Captain
Imposed Silence On Them.
He told me I might conduct her into a thicket
at some distance, and he relied upon my promise.
I hastened to seize my prey. There was a forlorn kind of triumph at
having at length become her exclusive possessor. I bore her off into
the thickness of the forest. She remained in the same state of
insensibility and stupor. I was thankful that she did not recollect me;
for had she once murmured my name, I should have been overcome. She
slept at length in the arms of him who was to poniard her. Many were
the conflicts I underwent before I could bring myself to strike the
blow. My heart had become sore by the recent conflicts it had
undergone, and I dreaded lest, by procrastination, some other should
become her executioner. When her repose had continued for some time, I
separated myself gently from her, that I might not disturb her sleep,
and seizing suddenly my poniard, plunged it into her bosom. A painful
and concentrated murmur, but without any convulsive movement,
accompanied her last sigh. So perished this unfortunate.
He ceased to speak. I sat horror-struck, covering my face with my
hands, seeking, as it were, to hide from myself the frightful images he
had presented to my mind. I was roused from this silence by the voice
of the captain. "You sleep," said he, "and it is time to be off. Come,
we must abandon this height, as night is setting in, and the messenger
is not returned. I will post some one on the mountain edge, to conduct
him to the place where we shall pass the night."
This was no agreeable news to me. I was sick at heart with the dismal
story I had heard. I was harassed and fatigued, and the sight of the
banditti began to grow insupportable to me.
The captain assembled his comrades. We rapidly descended the forest
which we had mounted with so much difficulty in the morning, and soon
arrived in what appeared to be a frequented road. The robbers proceeded
with great caution, carrying their guns cocked, and looking on every
side with wary and suspicious eyes. They were apprehensive of
encountering the civic patrole. We left Rocca Priori behind us. There
was a fountain near by, and as I was excessively thirsty, I begged
permission to stop and drink. The captain himself went, and brought me
water in his hat. We pursued our route, when, at the extremity of an
alley which crossed the road, I perceived a female on horseback,
dressed in white. She was alone. I recollected the fate of the poor
girl in the story, and trembled for her safety.
One of the brigands saw her at the same instant, and plunging into the
bushes, he ran precipitately in the direction towards her. Stopping on
the border of the alley, he put one knee to the ground, presented his
carbine ready for menace, or to shoot her horse if she attempted to
fly, and in this way awaited her approach.
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