But in a moment, a convulsion passed over him; a deep breath was heard, which was nearly stertorous; and he fell back into the chaplain’s arms, stone dead.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE ESCAPE
This night methinks is but the daylight sick,
It looks a little paler; ‘tis a day,
Such as the day is when the sun is hid. —Shakespeare.
The whole air whitens with a boundless tide,
Of silver radiance, trembling round the world. —Thomson.
We must now return to Kate, whom we left a prisoner with the outlaws, and momentarily in dread that she would be compelled to sacrifice life in order to avert dishonor.
The debauch of the refugees at last came to an end. Not being a witness of the scene, Kate could judge as to the manner of its termination, only from the laugh of derision with which it was said successively that another “was under the table.” Gradually the voices of the speakers became so thick as to be undistinguishable; the revelers apparently grew fewer and fewer, and finally a heavy fall was heard, as of the last boon companion, followed by silence.
For a long while Kate listened, dreading lest she should hear some one stir, for she dared not hope that sleep had overpowered the whole gang. But five minutes passed without any one moving, then ten, and then finally a half an hour. When this latter period had elapsed she began to breathe freely again. The thought of escape flashed upon her. She reasoned that if she could pass the sleepers undetected, and gain the forest, she might find some place of refuge, perhaps, before the outlaws would awake. Ignorant as she was of the exact locality of the hut, she yet had a general idea of the direction in which the Forks lay, and she determined to make the attempt to reach that post.
But she resolved not to essay escape as yet. The night without was pitch dark, so that it would have been impossible to find her way through the woods; and as she knew the moon would rise in about an hour, she determined to wait for that event; and accordingly threw herself on the bed to watch for the propitious time.
Fatigued by physical exhaustion as well as by mental excitement, however, she unwittingly fell asleep, and when at last she opened her eyes, the moon was shining full in at the window, having attained a considerable elevation above the horizon. For a moment she did not recollect where she was. She started up, at first, with a look of bewilderment, which changed to one of affright, however, and then of despair, as the past came up again to her memory.
“What precious hours I have lost,” she mentally exclaimed. “Perhaps now it is too late. Oh! how could I sleep!” And she wrung her hands.