Black Bess; or, the Knight of the Road — page 315: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

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But Claude Duval was very expeditious in his moye- ments. : It was by no means the first time that he had Sandage d & wound, though this time ths difficulty of the poration was much increased, owing %) Jack’s position on borse- back, and he would by no means allow him to atighi, for his experiences told him that this dressinjs of th2 ‘wound would cause a renewal of the ser sation ur (aintice +; Mure- over, there would be the danger of shifting ste secGars ! in the act of mounting. A piece of the linen was first torn off his neck Zsth ana soaked in water, plenty of which was trickl'ug aéown tro sides of the rocks. _ This piece’ was folded square and piaced upon the wound, and the neckcioth »bound tightly over the whole. “ There,” said Claude Duval, “it is true a professed surgeon might have made a better job of it perhaps, but I question whether it would have been more effectual in stanching the blood.” At this moment the attention af all was aroused by hearing on the road the clatter of horses’ feet. “The officers at last!” ejaculated Dick. “I have been expecting them for some time! Forward—forward |” “ Ride on first,” said Claude Duval; “you carry a double burden. Ishall have time to complete my opera- tions.” “No, no,” said Sixteen-String Jack, “you shall not ran any risk of fresh danger on my behalf; I shali do very well as I am.” “Be quiet!” said Claude. ‘Save your strangts for something better than mere words.” “ Yes,” said Dick, “go on with your task; we will neither of us start until it is completed.” It would have greatly annoyed anyone to have seen how coolly Claude Duval proceeded with his task; one would have thought that there was no occasion for haste at all. But those who watched him closely would have seen that this slowness was only apparent, and was caused by his extreme calmness. That he was, on ibe contrary, very rapid in his move- ments was evinced by the few seconds it took him to finish properly bandaging the wound. Nevertheless, by that time the officers had now got very close to the highwaymen. Looking along the road, the officers could plainly be distinguished coming along like a cloud, though it was questionable whether they could see the highwaymen as yet, bevause our friends were standing in the deep shadow of the holloway. CHAPTER MX. THE HIGHWAYMEN SUFFER THEMSELVES TO 38 EULLED INTO A STATE OF FALSE SECURITY. ‘“‘ ARE you ready, Claude?” asked Dick. * Yes, quite.” “Forward, then—forward, then! We have not a second to lose! Follow me!” : As he spoke, Dick Turpin turned Black Bess’s head in the direction of London. : But he did not long pursue this course. He availed himself of the first lane he ‘ame to. being anxious to get fairly into the open country. The turning down the lane, however, was not «tcom- plished without being seen by the offivexs, who, obsorving the movement, uttered a cry of gratification. ‘hey did not dare to expect that they should be able to overtake the fugitives; but they did hope to be able to keep upon their track, and not lose sight of them. As was generally his custom in such a caseas the present, Dick Turpin urged his mare onwards to the full extent of her power, being aware that a sharp push for a short time would not be likely to fatigue her so much as a gallop at something like an ordinary rate of speed. long _ &lthough Black Bess carried a double load, it was sur- ~~ a ae ‘THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD. > Me Me pre, EY a a Ce . a CTA a eT} ee ” : Feat ? 5 «ae » Vises Pr ee Vee ware Vw r newt oe ti ALS + oo ‘ r prising to see with what ease she maintained the lead. Kept in the rear. The speed they mad wever, was something pro- digious, and it is probable they would never have accom-= plished it but for the stimulus Black Bess was to them. The officers were quickiy ieft in the rear; but yet, as the lane had gone winding on without branching off in any fresh direction, there cvuld be no doubt that they were still fairly on the track This was a state of things, however, that Dick Turpin was resolved to put an end ~-, Finding a five-barred gate ome distance ahead which led into a field, he pulled up. I{is companions hastened to follow his example, and when the commotion caused by their stoppage had died ww ay, Dick assumed an attitude of listening. ~ \ gan hear nothing of them,” he said at length, ‘so it is fafc to presume they cannot hear us—indeed, they may not be listening at this precise moment.” “Black Bess has carried her double load long enough, I think,” responded Tom King. “ Yes’ and you may take your turn next, if you have no objection,” replied Dick. ‘None in the world,” was the answer. ‘Come aa Davis, the sooner we are off again, Iam sure, the etter.’ “ Through the gate yonder,” said Dick. ‘I will open it and close it securely afterwards. In the meanwhile, you push across the meadow; 1 will quickly overtake you" ‘Shall you attempt to regain the ruins to-night ?” ‘T think not; it would be unwise, for at the most wa cannot count upon more than an hour’s darkness.” “‘ Scarcely that.” ‘But I was thinking of Jack’s wound. If we could by any possibility get back it would be an advantage to him.” “Never mind me,” murmured Sixteen-String Jack, faintly. Tom replied, without taking any notice of the inter- ruption. ‘‘ We can easily obtain some place of shelter where we can pass the day, then we can set out for the ruins at nightfall; rely upon it, that would be much the best in every way.” ‘‘Tt would be better for Jack,” said Claude Duval “ The less exertion he goes through during the next few hours the better, and the sooner he will recover.” “That is sufficient to decide me. Quick! On—on, or we shall have the officers at our heels again! Once through the gate we shall be tolerably safe from their pursuit, for they will, ten to one, ride on.” Not another moment was lost in carrying out Dick Turpin’s suggestions. The gate was opened, the little party passed through, and Dick carefully closed it after them, so that there was actually nothing whatever to induce the officers to sup- pose that the fugitives had passed that way. Rapidly mounting, he rode after his comrades. Trifling as was the delay caused by fastening the gate yet, as his compantons had put their horses to speed, it had enabled them to get a long way in advance. But Black Bess seemed to pass over three yards while they passed over two, so that very quickly indeed she was in hor accustomed place in front. Dick then checked her speed, and as he did so, and thougnt how quickly she had outstripped the rest, he could not help the reflection occurring to him that had he been alone he could easily have regained the ruins before daylight, and so have saved Maud many hours af anguished suspense. > Somehow, whenever he thought of her he experienced a strange tightening at the chest and heaviness of heart, which made him dread that some evil had befallen her. And yet in the next breath he would ask himself what harm could happen to her there. Certainly none. The only fear was that she might find the solitude insupportable and quit the protection of the ruins. In this case it was hard to say what harm mig! happen. So much did this feeling of uneasiness grow upon his 1687 The other herses had “ the advantage, but yet they. Eomichooks-co