"But before that--before you fled?"
"What is it to you?" asked the hermit, gazing with scared eyes at the
man who towered above him like the demon of retribution. "Who are you?"
"I am the avenger!" answered the other. "The man you hated was my
brother. The woman you killed was his wife."
The fugitive fell upon his knees with a cry like that of one being
strangled.
Out of the darkness a red flame darted, and the crouching man fell to
the floor, a crumpled, bloody heap.
For a long time the executioner stood above the body, waiting, listening
from the shadow to the faint receding breath-strokes of his victim. When
all was still he restored his weapon to its sheath and stepped over the
threshold into the keen and pleasant night.
As he closed the door behind him the stranger raised his eyes to
Solidor, whose sovereign, cloud-like crest swayed among the stars.
"Now I shall rest," he said, with solemn satisfaction.