"
"Gently, young sir." He waved his hand towards the encircling moors.
"We have feasted _more Homerico_, and in Homer, you remember the host
allowed his guest fourteen days before asking that question.
Permit me to delay the answer only till I have poured libation on the
turf here. Ah! I perceive the whisky is exhausted: but water shall
suffice. May I trouble you--my joints are stiff--to fill your
drinking-cup from the brook at your feet?"
I took the cup from his hands and stooped over the water. As I did
so, he leapt on me like a cat from behind. I felt a hideous blow on
the nape of the neck: a jagged flame leapt up: the sunshine turned to
blood--then to darkness. With hands spread out, I stumbled blindly
forward and fell at full length into the beck.
When my senses returned, I became aware, first that I was lying,
bound hand and foot and securely gagged, upon the turf; secondly,
that the horses were still tethered, and standing quietly at the
foot-bridge; and, thirdly, that my companion had resumed his position
on the boulder, and there sat watching my recovery.
Seeing my eyes open, he raised his hat and addressed me in tones of
grave punctilio.
"Believe me, sir, I am earnest in my regret for this state of things.
Nothing but the severest necessity could have persuaded me to knock
the son of my late esteemed friend over the skull and gag his
utterance with a stone--to pass over the fact that it fairly lays my
sense of your hospitality under suspicion.
Pages:
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100