The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 381: what you’re looking at

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870 rushing out of the cavern, when a horrible hissing smote his ears; and within a yard of his foot the monstrous cobra raised iteelf up to dart at him. He sprang back,—at the same instant hurling he club at the reptile. The blow was well 1 struck down the éobra, which hey writ the bed of granite im Mout of the entesn. atone, hastily snetohed uy, Gee Baviey his enemy. It was no vivhes, thes, which Kad he during his slamber!—it was @ terrific and he hed dept with ¢ The men’s form kept coptulsing aad with nervous horror at the hase kiew w yogis cobse wpew his bscact Ul many minutes elapsed eré he could oni. cient self-possession for deliberate the Thea the reflection began to esecg inte his mad that the cobra he had just destroyed myest be enue of those that he had seen with the meke-charuer, and thet his notion of the m Wks curtect : namely, thet its fangs had boon withdarwa Bor if thie were not the case, hog could he H have escaped. wit® hie life? Bus the ine made the 5 aevate of one thing-—-whick wus that his mat of granite fragments in front of the heart te wt th efi of a Strangler—os ticlently aed din jaws of a tiger. He therfore } tion sufficient fos ) and when the task wast socomplished, in the decpest dejection, im the davinese of his | abiding-place. ok The night passed without aay tockdent worthy of notice; and when thé Bevkes teseed from the cave in the movning, he asvended the Bétle emi- nence, as was his wont, to sedertein if he could descry any human form in the seighboovhesd. He | had not been stationed there many minuted, ore he beheld some one advancing through the jungle; and as the person drew nearer, the Burker per- ceived that he was a Gcsscon. Tho man’s heart leapt for joy as he thought that now at last do- liverance from that dreadful wilderness was at hand ; for he resolved that if the dervish, imitat- ing the example of bie predecessors, should refuse him his guidanes, he would compel him by vio- lenee to succour him in that sense, or else would pertinaciously dog his fuoteteps and thus be led from the jungle. As thé Gossoon drew nearer still, the Burker diseerned that he was one of the lowest of the sect of religious itinerante—in fact a wandering begger, dependent on the alms of charity. These facte his garb and general appear- ance announced ; while his looke were of the most forbidding cheracter. He wae about fifty years of age: his hair and beard were grissied; and he had a strosg cast in one eye, which added to his emister aspect. Goseoon seemed surprised for a few moments *¢ an European thete» but the Burkes, rT i = iH SHE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. deeming it the most prudent course to assume @ demeanour of entreaty, descended from the top of the hillock and made signs to implore the Gosscon ‘to lead him forth from the jungle. The itinerant Jang st ence wade some sign of impatience in reply, to the cave. | findig & provision of boiled 3 end exming foets to the entrance of , zyet I Bee 3 E sith ¢ F 2 5 2 * f fe euptenit, w foo. @ore GF, the tame fer hie dofiverascs from the depths of that horrible juagle would be at hand. }3 atill’ the Gossoon slept on; and eR the Barker sat at the entrance of the cavern, anxiously awaiting the moment when the Hindoo should arouse himself. All the rice was gone from the knapsack; for the Gossoon had made light work of the provision which it contained. This was however scarcely a source of uneasiness to the Burker for the present; for he felt assured that his atrange companion must have the conscious- neas of being speedily enabled to procare another supply. And while thus reflecting, the Barker buoyed himself up with the hope that probably they were not so far from the extremity of the jungle as he had previously imagined—or that the mn was acquainted with some outlet that would speedily take them to an inhabited epot. Bat time passed on—the day was wearing away —and still the Gossoon slept. The Burker might have supposed that the man was dead, were it not for the unmistakable indications of life which the nasal sounds cf his slumber gave forth. Though looking te that dervish as the means by which he hoped te escape from the jungle, the Burker never- theless hated him—not so much for his uncouth eomlcbhoo (CO