"On seeing who it was, I rode out from among the trees, and reined up
before him.
"There was light enough for him to see who I was; and he at once
recognised me.
"Instead of the angry scene I expected--perhaps had reason to expect--I
was joyfully surprised by his reception of me. His first words were to
ask if I would forgive him for what he had said to me--at the same time
holding out his hand in the most frank and friendly manner.
"Need I tell you that I took that hand? Or how heartily I pressed it?
I knew it to be a true one; more than that, I had a hope it might one
day be the hand of a brother.
"It was the last time, but one, I ever grasped it alive. The last was
shortly after--when we bade each other good night, and parted upon the
path. I had no thought it was to be for ever.
"Gentlemen of the jury! you do not wish me to take up your time with the
conversation that occurred between us? It was upon matters that have
nothing to do with this trial.
"We rode together for a short distance; and then drew up under the
shadow of a tree.
"Cigars were exchanged, and smoked; and there was another exchange--the
more closely to cement the good understanding established between us.
It consisted of our hats and cloaks.
"It was a whim of the moment suggested by myself--from a fashion I had
been accustomed to among the Comanches. I gave Henry Poindexter my
Mexican sombrero and striped blanket--taking his cloth cloak and Panama
hat.
"We then parted--he riding away, myself remaining.
"I can give no reason why I stayed upon the spot; unless that I liked
it, from being the scene of our reconciliation--by me so little looked
for and so much desired.
"I no longer cared for going on to the Alamo that night. I was happy
enough to stay under the tree; and, dismounting, I staked out my horse;
wrapped myself up in the cloak; and with the hat upon my head, lay down
upon the grass.
"In three seconds I was asleep.
"It was rare for sleep to come on me so readily. Half an hour before,
and the thing would have been impossible. I can only account for the
change by the feeling of contentment that was upon me--after the
unpleasant excitement through which I had passed.
"My slumbers could not have been very sound; nor were they long
undisturbed.
"I could not have been unconscious for more than two minutes, when a
sound awoke me. It was the report of a gun.
"I was not quite sure of its being this. I only fancied that it was.
"My horse seemed to know better than I. As I looked up, he was standing
with ears erect, snorting, as if he had been fired at!
"I sprang to my feet, and stood listening.
"But as I could hear nothing more, and the mustang soon quieted down, I
came to the conclusion that we had both been mistaken. The horse had
heard the footsteps of some straying animal; and that which struck upon
my ear might have been the snapping of a branch broken by its passage
through the thicket; or perhaps one of the many mysterious sounds--
mysterious, because unexplained--often heard in the recesses of the
chapparal.
"Dismissing the thing from my mind, I again lay down along the grass;
and once more fell asleep.
"This time I was not awakened until the raw air of the morning began to
chill me through the cloak.
"It was not pleasant to stay longer under the tree; and, recovering my
horse, I was about to continue my journey.
"But the shot seemed still ringing in my ears--even louder than I had
heard it while half asleep!
"It appeared, too, to be in the direction in which Henry Poindexter had
gone.
"Fancy or no fancy, I could not help connecting it with him; nor yet
resist the temptation to go back that way and seek for an explanation of
it.
"I did not go far till I found it. Oh, Heavens! What a sight!
"I saw--"
"_The Headless Horseman_!" exclaims a voice from the outer circle of the
spectators, causing one and all to turn suddenly in that direction.
"_The Headless Horseman_!" respond fifty others, in a simultaneous
shout.
Is it mockery, this seeming contempt of court?
There is no one who takes it in this sense; for by this time every
individual in the assemblage has become acquainted with the cause of the
interruption. It is the Headless Horseman himself seen out upon the
open plain, in all his fearful shape!
"Yonder he goes--yonder! yonder!"
"No, he's coming this way! See! He's making straight for the Fort!"
The latest assertion seems the truer; but only for an instant. As if to
contradict it, the strange equestrian makes a sudden pause upon the
prairie, and stands eyeing the crowd gathered around the tree.
Then, apparently not liking the looks of what is before him, the horse
gives utterance to his dislike with a loud snort, followed by a still
louder neighing.
The intense interest excited by the confession of the accused is for the
time eclipsed.
There is a universal impression that, in the spectral form thus
opportunely presenting itself, will be found the explanation of all that
has occurred.
Three-fourths of the spectators forsake the spot, and rush towards their
horses. Even the jurymen are not exempt from taking part in the general
_debandade_, and at least six out of the twelve go scattering off to
join in the chase of the Headless Horseman.
The latter has paused only for an instant--just long enough to scan the
crowd of men and horses now moving towards him. Then repeating his wild
"whigher," he wheels round, and goes off at full speed--followed by a
thick clump of shouting pursuers!