Arthur Conan Doyle

“ Sure, such a horse for slipping from under one was never bestridden by man.'
'Good Heavens, Reuben!' I cried in amazement, 'what brings you all this way from home?'
'The very same cause which brings you, Micah, and also Don Decimo Saxon, late of the Solent, whom methinks I see in the shadow behind you. How fares it, oh illustrious one?'
'It is you, then, young cock of the woods!' growled Saxon, in no very overjoyed voice.
'No less a person,' said Reuben. 'And now, my gay cavalieros, round with your horses and trot on your way, for there is no time to be lost. ”

“ It is a mercy the pistol did not burst. But what do you propose to do now, Master Saxon?'
'Why, to recover my mare if it can anywise be done,' said the adventurer.' Though on this vast moor, in the dark, she will be as difficult to find as a Scotsman's breeches or a flavourless line in "Hudibras."'
'And Reuben Lockarby's steed can go no further,' I remarked. 'But do mine eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder?'
'A Will-o'-the-wisp,' said Saxon.
"An ignis fatuus that bewitches, And leads men into pools and ditches." ”

“ Looking down the road we could make out through the darkness a shadowy blur which soon resolved itself into man and horse. The rider was well-nigh abreast of us before he was aware of our presence, when he pulled up his steed in a strange, awkward fashion, and faced round in our direction. ”

“ We reined up our panting steeds and strained our ears, but not a sound could we hear save the gentle murmur of the breeze amongst the whin-bushes, and the melancholy cry of the night-jar. Behind us the broad rolling plain, half light and half shadow, stretched away to the dim horizon without sign of life or movement. 'We have either outstripped them completely, or else they have given up the chase,' said I. 'What ails the horses that they should tremble and snort?'
'My poor beast is nearly done for,' Reuben remarked, leaning forward and passing his hand down the creature's reeking neck. ”

“ All this and a great deal more passed swiftly through our minds as we sat with drawn swords, soothing our trembling horses as best we might, and waiting for the coming of the hounds.
Nor had we long to wait. Another long, deep, thunderous bay sounded in our ears, followed by a profound silence, broken only by the quick shivering breathing of the horses. Then suddenly, and noiselessly, a great tawny brute, with its black muzzle to the earth, and its overhung cheeks napping on either side, sprang into the band of moonlight between the rocks, and on into the shadow beyond. ”

“ We ought all to be at Taunton to-morrow.'
'But, my dear Reuben,' said I, 'it cannot be that you are coming with us to join Monmouth. What would your father say? This is no holiday jaunt, but one that may have a sad and stern ending. At the best, victory can only come through much bloodshed and danger. At the worst, we are as like to wind up upon a scaffold as not.'
'Forwards, lads, forwards!' cried he, spurring on his horse, 'it is all arranged and settled. ”

“ Like the first, they took no notice of our presence, but bounded on along the trail left by Decimus Saxon.
The first and second I let pass, for I hardly realised that they so completely overlooked us. When the third, however, sprang out into the moonlight, I drew my right-hand pistol from its holster, and resting its long barrel across my left forearm, I fired at it as it passed. The bullet struck the mark, for the brute gave a fierce howl of rage and pain, but true to the scent it never turned or swerved. Lockarby fired also as it disappeared among the brushwood, but with no apparent effect. ”

“ Looking back at it, my dear children, I cannot but think that it was a great trial on such young soldiers as Reuben and myself to be put, on the first occasion of drawing our swords, into such a position. For I have found, and others have confirmed my opinion, that of all dangers that a man is called upon to face, that arising from savage and determined animals is the most unnerving. For with men there is ever the chance that some trait of weakness or of want of courage may give you an advantage over them, but with fierce beasts there is no such hope. ”

“ They have found cause for suspicion of the two strangers of the inn, but none of me.'
'Nay, Reuben, we shall stand or fall together,' said I sadly, for at every step his horse grew more and more feeble. 'In this darkness they will make little distinction between persons.'
'Keep a good heart,' shouted the old soldier, who was now leading us by twenty yards or more. 'We can hear them because the wind blows from that way, but it's odds whether they have heard us. ”

“ Through this gap we rode, and I shouted loudly for Saxon to join us. His horse, however, had been steadily gaining upon ours, and at the renewed alarm had darted off again, so that he was already some hundred yards from us. It was useless to summon him, even could he hear our voices, for the hounds would be upon us before he could return.
'Never heed him,' I said hurriedly. 'Do you rein your steed behind that rock, and I behind this. They will serve to break the force of the attack. ”

“ We knew that the creatures to whom we were opposed could never be turned from our throats while there was breath in their bodies. One feels in one's heart, too, that the combat is an unequal one, for your life is precious at least to your friends, while their lives, what are they? ”

“ Ober-hauptmann Muller was reckoned to be the finest player at the small-sword in the Kaiser's army, and could for a wager snick any button from an opponent's vest without cutting the cloth. Yet was he slain in an encounter with Fahnfuhrer Zollner, who was a cornet in our own Pandour corps, and who knew as much of the rapier as you do of horsemanship. For the rapier, be it understood, is designed to thrust and not to cut, so that no man wielding it ever thinks of guarding a side-stroke. ”

“ It could not have been less than fifteen feet in height, and had doubtless been originally straight, but wind and weather, or the crumbling of the soil, had gradually suffered it to tilt over until it inclined at such an angle that an active man might clamber up to the summit. ”