“Child, you play the generous man, as if I wanted your indulgence!”
Before the astonished Ordener could turn his head, the brigand had
placed his foot on the shoulder of his loyal victor, and at one bound
stood twelve paces away from him. With another leap he sprang at
Ordener, and hung his entire weight upon him, as the panther hangs with
teeth and claws to the flanks of the royal lion. His nails dug deep into
the young man’s shoulders, his bony knees were pressed into his flesh,
while his fierce face showed Ordener a bloody mouth and cruel teeth
ready to tear him limb from limb. He ceased to speak; no human words
issued from his heaving chest; a low roar mingled with hoarse,
passionate yells alone expressed his rage. He was more hideous than a
wild beast, more monstrous than a demon; he was a man deprived of all
semblance of humanity.
Ordener tottered beneath the small man’s onslaught, and would have
fallen at the unexpected shock, had not one of the heavy pillars of the
Druid monument happened to be just behind to sustain him. He stood
therefore half overthrown and gasping beneath the weight of his fearful
foe. To gain any idea of the horrible spectacle offered at this moment,
it must be remembered that all which we have described occurred in far
less time than is required to write it.
As we said, the noble youth tottered, but he did not quake. He hastily
addressed a farewell thought to Ethel. The thought of his love was like
a prayer; it restored his strength. He threw his arms about the monster;
then seizing his sword by the middle of the blade, he pressed the point
straight down upon his spine. The wounded brigand uttered a fearful
scream, and with a sudden leap, which shook off Ordener, freed himself
from his bold adversary’s arms, and fell back some paces, taking in his
teeth a fragment of the green cloak, which he had bitten in his fury.
He leaped up, supple and agile as a young deer, and the battle began
again, for the third time, more terrible than ever. By chance there was,
close by, a pile of huge stones over which moss and weeds had grown for
centuries undisturbed. Two ordinary men could scarcely have lifted the
smallest of these rocks. Hans seized one in both arms and raised it
above his head, poising it toward Ordener. His expression was frightful.
The stone, flung with great violence, moved heavily through the air; the
young man had just time to spring aside. The granite bowlder broke to
fragments against the subterranean wall with a tremendous noise, which
was echoed back for many moments from the depths of the cavern.
Ordener, stunned and amazed, had barely time to recover before a second
mass of stone was poised in the brigand’s grasp. Vexed that he should
seem to stand like a coward to be pelted, he rushed toward the small
man, with uplifted sword, to change this mode of warfare; but the
fearful missile, launched like a thunderbolt, as it moved through the
dense, dark air of the cave encountered the bare and slender blade; the
steel was dashed to pieces like a bit of glass, and the monster’s fierce
laugh rang out. Ordener was disarmed.
“Have you,” cried the monster, “aught to say to God or the Devil ere you
die?”
And his eye darted flame, and all his muscles swelled with rage and joy,
and he flung himself with a thrill of impatience upon his axe, which,
wrapped in the cloak, lay upon the ground. Poor Ethel!
All at once a distant roar was heard outside. The monster paused. The
noise increased; shouts of men were mingled with the plaintive moan of a
bear. The brigand listened. The cries of pain continued. He hastily
seized his axe, and sprang, not toward Ordener, but toward one of the
crevices in the rock. Ordener, overwhelmed with surprise to find himself
thus unnoticed, hurried in his turn to one of these natural doors, and
saw in a neighboring glade a large white bear at bay, surrounded by
seven hunters, among whom he thought he recognized Kennybol, whose words
had made such an impression upon him the night before.
He turned back. The brigand had left the cave, and a fearful voice
outside shouted: “Friend! Friend! I am here! I am here!”