Vellenaux A Novel - Edmund William Forrest (7 ebook reader txt) 📗
- Author: Edmund William Forrest
Book online «Vellenaux A Novel - Edmund William Forrest (7 ebook reader txt) 📗». Author Edmund William Forrest
Shudder Ran Through The Remainder Of The Unhappy Party; But This Past
Unheeded By Their Captors, Being Drowned By The Yells Of Fiendish
Delight And Approval That Broke Forth From The Throats Of These Hell
Hounds, As The Mutilated Body Of The Child Lay Wreathing In agony At
Their Feet, Absorbing For The Moment All Other Feeling. "I Will Double
The Stakes," Cried Another, "That I Take Off The Head Of A Second Of
These Young Imps Close To The Shoulder Without Making Wound Or Scar On
Any Other Part." "Done, And Done Again!" Shouted Several Voices,
Throwing Up Their Weapons In The Air, And Re-Catching Them Again, So
Delighted Were They At The Idea Of Another Spectacle So Much In Unison
With Their Blood-Thirsty And Relentless Passions. A Powerful Ruffian Now
Dismounted, And Catching Up A Second Babe, A Pretty Little Thing
Scarcely Two Years Old, Hurled It With His Utmost Strength High Into The
Air. On Gaining Its Greatest Altitude, It Turned Completely, And Was
Descending, Head Downwards. When Within Six Feet Of The Ground, The
Brutal Villain, With One Lightning Stroke Of His Tulwa, Severed The Head
From Its Shoulders, Amid The Shouts And Gesticulations Of The Assembled
Miscreants. By Some, The Wretch Was Pronounced A Winner, But On
Examining The Body, The Skin Of One Shoulder Was Found To Be Grazed Or
Cut. Many Maintained It Was Done By The Sword; Others Asserted That It
Was Caused By Falling On A Stone Or Some Such Substance. The Dispute Ran
High, And Possible Might Have Come To Blows, But For The Interference Of
Another Of The Party, Who Appeared To Be A Sort Of Leader Among Them,
Shouting Out "Come! No More Of This Fooling; Too Much Time Has Been
Already Wasted On This Tumahsha. Give The Cursed Feringees A Volley From
Your Carbines, Loot The Garries, And Then Make Off With All Speed, Or
The Cursed Kaffirs May Get Wind Of The Affair And Follow In Our Track."
"Shumsodeen Is Right," Called Out Another. "There Is Both Truth And
Reason In What He Says. But There Must Be No Firing, It Might Attract
The Notice Of Any Straggler From The Camps Of Those Dogs Of Kaffirs, And
Bring Their Infernal Dragoons Down Upon Us. No! Cut The Throats Of The
Men, And As There Are But Twenty Of Us, And Only Five Of These Women,
Tell Off One Of Them To Each Four Of Us, And Let Us Begone, For We Must
Put The Broad Plain, At The Foot Of The Khandish Ghaut, Between Us And
This Place Ere Night Fall, And On Our Camping For The Night, Each Four
Can Decide What Is To Be Done With Their Prize." This Suggestion Was
Received With Applause, And They Immediately Prepared To Act Upon It.
Already Two Or Three Had Dismounted And Drawn Their Creeses To Slit The
Throats Of Their Male Prisoners, When A Youth, About Eighteen, Son Of
The Fellow Called Shumsodeen, Cried Out, "Do As You Please With The
Women Among Yourselves, But I Will Have Yonder Curly Headed Cutcha
Butchee For My Prize, Come What May," And He Took A Few Steps In The
Direction Of The Collector'S Daughter, Who Was Still Clinging To Her
Parent For Protection; But Ere He Reached Her, A Loud, Clear Voice At No
Great Distance Rang Out, "Fire! Gentlemen, And Charge!" Then Came From
Between The Leaves And Bushes A Withering Volley Of Bullets From Rifle
And Revolver, Striking Down The Youth, And Emptying Three Saddles, The
Riders Falling Lifeless To The Ground. In another Instant The Branches
Parted, And Arthur Carlton, With His Six Companions, Cleared The Low
Brushwood, And Sword In Hand Dashed Into The Centre Of The Ruffianly
Chapter 13 Pg 95Group.
Although Taken Completely By Surprise--For They Had Not Calculated Upon
Being Interfered With, Especially At So Early A Period Of Their
Proceedings Or By So Formidable A Foe--The Mutineers Instantly Prepared
To Give Their Unexpected Assailants A Fierce And Bloody Reception. They
Fought Frantically With A Courage Born Of Desperation, Well Knowing That
To Cut Through Their Foes And Escape By Flight Was Their Only Chance;
For Should They Not Perish By The Sword In The Present Contest, A
Halter, Or To Be Blown To Fragments From The Cannon'S Mouth, Would Be
Their Doom If Made Prisoners, Consequently They Rained Down Their Blows
Frantically, And Made Several Desperate Attempts To Break Through Or
Divide The Small Party That Opposed Them. But The Cool And Determined
Courage And Thorough Discipline Of The Dragoons, And Their Friends Was
Too Much For Them, Fighting As They Did, For A Time, On The Defensive;
Warding Off The Cuts Of The Dusky Villains, And Giving Only A Few
Thrusts Here And There, When It Could Be Done With Fatal Effect. Many Of
Their Number Had Already Bit The Dust, And, As Yet, No Impression Had
Been Made On The Gallant Little Band, The Soaws Being Still Two To One.
Thus Carlton And His Party Were Still Fighting Under A Disadvantage As
Far As Numbers Were Concerned. Had The Combatants Been Less Pre-Occupied
With Their Deadly Strife, They Might Have Observed, At A Short Distance,
A Female Figure Cautiously Emerging From Between The Bushes And
Stealthily Creep Beneath The Vehicle, To The Wheels Of Which The
Collector Had Been Bound. This Was The Wife Of The Head Clerk, The
Pretty Three-Quarter Caste, Whose Presence Of Mind, Courage And
Forethought Had So Largely Contributed To Their Deliverance. Rapidly But
Surely, With The Hunting Knife Given Her By Captain Crosby, She Cut The
Cords That Bound Her Husband And His Companions, Who, When They Found
They Were Released, Rushed Forward And Possessed Themselves Of The
Weapons Of The Fallen Mutineers, And Immediately Commenced An Attack On
Their Flank And Rear, In Hopes Of Rendering Some Assistance To Their
Brave Defenders.
Moving Quickly, But In Such A Way As Not To Attract Notice, Mrs. De
Mello, Released The Collector'S Wife And The Other Ladies From Their
Unpleasant And Exposed Position, And One By One Removed Them For Safety
Within The Cover Of The Jungle In case Of Any Chance Shot Or Blow
Injuring Them. A Brief Time Served To Restore The Ladies To Something
Like Tranquility, And Enable Them To Arrange Their Attire To The Best
Advantage Under The Circumstances, And Evincing In The Highest Manner
Their Thanks And Gratitude To Her Who Had, With Such Peril To Herself,
Relieved Them From A Fate, To Them, Worse Than Death Itself.
The Unexpected Release Of The Prisoners, And The Attack Made On Their
Flank And Rear By Them, Totally Confounded The Mutineers, And Rendered
All Escape On Their Part Impossible Or Nearly So, While Arthur And His
Friends, Seeing The Addition To Their Number, And Being About Equally
Matched--Numerically Speaking--Changed Their Tactics From The Defensive
To The Offensive, And Attacked Their Opponents In Right Good Earnest,
And With Such Skill And Determination Did They Use Their Weapons That
They Very Shortly Brought The Contest To A Close. Eleven Of The
Mutinous Rascals Lay Stone Dead Upon The Blood-Stained Sod, And Five
Group.
Although Taken Completely By Surprise--For They Had Not Calculated Upon
Being Interfered With, Especially At So Early A Period Of Their
Proceedings Or By So Formidable A Foe--The Mutineers Instantly Prepared
To Give Their Unexpected Assailants A Fierce And Bloody Reception. They
Fought Frantically With A Courage Born Of Desperation, Well Knowing That
To Cut Through Their Foes And Escape By Flight Was Their Only Chance;
For Should They Not Perish By The Sword In The Present Contest, A
Halter, Or To Be Blown To Fragments From The Cannon'S Mouth, Would Be
Their Doom If Made Prisoners, Consequently They Rained Down Their Blows
Frantically, And Made Several Desperate Attempts To Break Through Or
Divide The Small Party That Opposed Them. But The Cool And Determined
Courage And Thorough Discipline Of The Dragoons, And Their Friends Was
Too Much For Them, Fighting As They Did, For A Time, On The Defensive;
Warding Off The Cuts Of The Dusky Villains, And Giving Only A Few
Thrusts Here And There, When It Could Be Done With Fatal Effect. Many Of
Their Number Had Already Bit The Dust, And, As Yet, No Impression Had
Been Made On The Gallant Little Band, The Soaws Being Still Two To One.
Thus Carlton And His Party Were Still Fighting Under A Disadvantage As
Far As Numbers Were Concerned. Had The Combatants Been Less Pre-Occupied
With Their Deadly Strife, They Might Have Observed, At A Short Distance,
A Female Figure Cautiously Emerging From Between The Bushes And
Stealthily Creep Beneath The Vehicle, To The Wheels Of Which The
Collector Had Been Bound. This Was The Wife Of The Head Clerk, The
Pretty Three-Quarter Caste, Whose Presence Of Mind, Courage And
Forethought Had So Largely Contributed To Their Deliverance. Rapidly But
Surely, With The Hunting Knife Given Her By Captain Crosby, She Cut The
Cords That Bound Her Husband And His Companions, Who, When They Found
They Were Released, Rushed Forward And Possessed Themselves Of The
Weapons Of The Fallen Mutineers, And Immediately Commenced An Attack On
Their Flank And Rear, In Hopes Of Rendering Some Assistance To Their
Brave Defenders.
Moving Quickly, But In Such A Way As Not To Attract Notice, Mrs. De
Mello, Released The Collector'S Wife And The Other Ladies From Their
Unpleasant And Exposed Position, And One By One Removed Them For Safety
Within The Cover Of The Jungle In case Of Any Chance Shot Or Blow
Injuring Them. A Brief Time Served To Restore The Ladies To Something
Like Tranquility, And Enable Them To Arrange Their Attire To The Best
Advantage Under The Circumstances, And Evincing In The Highest Manner
Their Thanks And Gratitude To Her Who Had, With Such Peril To Herself,
Relieved Them From A Fate, To Them, Worse Than Death Itself.
The Unexpected Release Of The Prisoners, And The Attack Made On Their
Flank And Rear By Them, Totally Confounded The Mutineers, And Rendered
All Escape On Their Part Impossible Or Nearly So, While Arthur And His
Friends, Seeing The Addition To Their Number, And Being About Equally
Matched--Numerically Speaking--Changed Their Tactics From The Defensive
To The Offensive, And Attacked Their Opponents In Right Good Earnest,
And With Such Skill And Determination Did They Use Their Weapons That
They Very Shortly Brought The Contest To A Close. Eleven Of The
Mutinous Rascals Lay Stone Dead Upon The Blood-Stained Sod, And Five
Group.
Although Taken Completely By Surprise--For They Had Not Calculated Upon
Being Interfered With, Especially At So Early A Period Of Their
Proceedings Or By So Formidable A Foe--The Mutineers Instantly Prepared
To Give Their Unexpected Assailants A Fierce And Bloody Reception. They
Fought Frantically With A Courage Born Of Desperation, Well Knowing That
To Cut Through Their Foes And Escape By Flight Was Their Only Chance;
For Should They Not Perish By The Sword In The Present Contest, A
Halter, Or To Be Blown To Fragments From The Cannon'S Mouth, Would Be
Their Doom If Made Prisoners, Consequently They Rained Down Their Blows
Frantically, And Made Several Desperate Attempts To Break Through Or
Divide The Small Party That Opposed Them. But The Cool And Determined
Courage And Thorough Discipline Of The Dragoons, And Their Friends Was
Too Much For Them, Fighting As They Did, For A Time, On The Defensive;
Warding Off The Cuts Of The Dusky Villains, And Giving Only A Few
Thrusts Here And There, When It Could Be Done With Fatal Effect. Many Of
Their Number Had Already Bit The Dust, And, As Yet, No Impression Had
Been Made On The Gallant Little Band, The Soaws Being Still Two To One.
Thus Carlton And His Party Were Still Fighting Under A Disadvantage As
Far As Numbers Were Concerned. Had The Combatants Been Less Pre-Occupied
With Their Deadly Strife, They Might Have Observed, At A Short Distance,
A Female Figure Cautiously Emerging From Between The Bushes And
Stealthily Creep Beneath The Vehicle, To The Wheels Of Which The
Collector Had Been Bound. This Was The Wife Of The Head Clerk, The
Pretty Three-Quarter Caste, Whose Presence Of Mind, Courage And
Forethought Had So Largely Contributed To Their Deliverance. Rapidly But
Surely, With The Hunting Knife
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