He felt the stone move as he crawled over its smooth flat top on his hands and knees, and as he paused for a moment in obedience to the instinct of self-preservation, he heard some stones in which the large rock was imbedded, roll down the hill, chinking against the pebbles, and bounding onwards, until arrested in their course by the boughs or roots of dwarf oaks and wild lilacs which grew upon its side. It was clear that the impulsion which his weight had given to the stone, had displaced these small fragments, chipped from itself or the crags which it laid between when it first fell there, and he hesitated in the fear that in quitting the stone he should cause it to topple over, and be crushed by its falling upon him.
In this dilemma he determined to leap from the middle of it, in order to avoid overbalancing it, and, standing upright for a moment, he measured the leap with his eye as well as the darkness of the night would permit, and bounded forward like a mountain goat. He cleared the edge of the stone, and alighted in safety below it, on the other side of the hill; but again some fragments of rock rolled down, and he sprang aside, lest the whole ponderous mass should slip from its position and hurl him before it down the hill. But the massive rock moved not, and he sped down the hill with the speed of a deer.
Monteagle had made slower progress than the robber up the steepest part of the hill, and his companions did not engage in the chase with equal vigor. Hence they allowed Monteagle to keep the lead; and, on coming near the summit of the hill, they diverged from the track which he was following in order to reach the glen on the other side without passing over the large stone which has been described. Monteagle had caught a glimpse of Blodget as the dark figure of the latter was for a moment dimly defined against the lighter darkness of the sky, when he stood upon the stone to leap into the glen, and shouting, ‘There he is!’ he strained up the steep acclivity direct for the gap in the hill’s bare and rocky crest.
He was not aware until he reached it of the obstacle presented by the massive stone; but, as Blodget had passed over it, he thought he could do the same; and, clinging to it with both hands, drew himself up, and succeeded in reaching the flat top; but scarcely had he done so when there was a rustling fall of stones from beneath, the massive fragment of rock slid from its place, and a shriek of terror burst from the lips of Monteagle as he found himself falling backwards, and the stone with him.
His two friends heard the cry, and for a moment stood silent and motionless on the steep hill-side, with their hands still holding the boughs and roots which they had grasped to aid their ascent. They heard the great stone rush with a dull hoarse sound a few yards, and then bound down the hill, crashing through the dwarf oaks and clumps of lilac, snapping the tender trunks of the mountain trees, and grating over the loose pebbles which filled the channels made by the rapid descent of water during heavy rains; but that cry of horror and affright was not repeated, and in a few moments all was still upon the dark and lonely hill.
‘It is the great stone!’ said one with bated breath.
‘Poor fellow,’ ejaculated the other, with a shudder. ‘If it has fallen on him, he is crushed!’
‘Let us look for him,’ said the first. ‘Hush! I thought I heard a groan.’
They listened, but heard nothing, save the sighing of the night wind among the trees, and they went towards the spot from which Monteagle had fallen, and followed the track of the displaced stone, which was marked by broken boughs and torn herbage, down the hill. About fifty yards down they found our hero lying against a bush, which had arrested his further progress. The night was too dark for them to perceive the full extent of the injuries which he had received, but the inertness of the body when lifted from the ground, gave but faint hope that vitality remained. A rude litter was made of boughs, and the crushed body being placed upon it, was borne down the hill and across the meadows to a little ranch not far from the place.