"I believe you are afraid of the dark," said my companion after a pause; and I could see in the indistinct, vacillating light that his face wore a confident, sneering look of infinitely malicious triumph.
I felt it would be madness to let him carry the matter farther.
"There is some devilment here," I said sternly. "This is all preconcerted. Stop that mad fool out there, and let's have no more of it."
"What do you mean? How dare you?"
Then he stopped suddenly, and I saw him rise from his seat and look out through the front windows of the carriage.
"By God! what does it mean?" he exclaimed excitedly.
His face had lost all its jaunty, blustering expression and had turned gray with sudden fear.
"He's fallen off the box, or jumped off," he cried in a tone hoarse with panic.
It was true. The driver had disappeared, and the horse, freed from all control, was stretching himself out at a wild gallop.
"For God's sake, what had we better do, Prince?" cried the coward, turning to me in positively abject fear.