Like an accusation, from some place behind them, rang out the unmistakable clang of sword on sword. They reined in their horses to listen.
"Carrick," hazarded Trusia, voicing the premonition paralyzing both. Then, forgetful of self, in the chivalrous creed of her race, she pointed back in the direction of the noise. "Go," she commanded, "he needs you."
"But you?" he demurred, his first thought, lover-like, being for her safety. His eyes fell approvingly upon the thick covert by the roadside. He nodded suggestively toward it.
"Yes, I'll be safe—I'll hide," she promised eagerly; "now go." He fairly lifted his horse from its feet as he swung it around. In mighty bounds it carried him over the crest of the hill.
Two hundred yards away, Carrick could be seen defending himself gamely against the combined attack of three mounted men. Something, even at that distance, about their uncouth horses and absurdly high saddles, sent a shiver of recognition through Carter. He had seen thousands of their ilk along the Neva. The trio of strangers were Russian Cossacks. How had they passed the Krovitch outposts some miles back? The boldness of their onslaught argued the presence of reinforcements in the neighborhood. Could it be part of a reconnoissance in force? The sudden memory of the passing of the invisible army in the darkness came back to Carter with sinister meaning. He realized that it had been an invasion by a Russian army. Krovitch had been betrayed—by Josef. Carrick was in danger.
He roweled the horse's side. The animal, smarting under the punishment, plunged forward like some mad thing. Settling firmly back in his saddle for the crash to come, Carter drew his sabre with the yell that had swept the Americans up San Juan Hill and the Spaniards out of Cuba.
One Cossack, startled at the unexpected shout, turned his head for an instant in the direction of the approaching succor. It served for Carrick. Like a tongue of lightning his nimble sword entered the tough brown throat. Even from that distance the American could distinguish the "Ht" of the brute as he fell, lifeless, in the road. In order to make short work of the agile swordsman, the other two closed grimly in. The Cockney had had some difficulty in disengaging his blade from the falling man, permitting his adversaries to push their ponies so close to his sides that he could work only with a shortened blade. Appreciating what terrific additional handicap this would be to Carrick, Carter was yet scarcely prepared for the immediate tragedy that followed. Like the phantasmagoria of dreams, he saw the Cockney, cut, slashed, and pierced, fall heavily from his horse.
Just a second too late, he burst upon them. With the yell of a baffled animal Carter hurled himself upon the nearest Cossack. His fury was volcanic. Terrified by such titanic rage the pair gave way as to something superhuman, wielding an irresistible sword. Blood-lust made him see everything through a mist, red and stinging. He was a Cave Man. His opponents were pigmies who shrank back, appalled, by his murderous might. One Slav saw death beckon him, so fell, wild-eyed, to the ground, his neck spurting a fountain of blood. The other, too paralyzed with terror to fight or flee, stood irresolutely in the mid-road, his ugly face twitching with an idiotic grin. Carter, hell in his heart, rode fiercely against his horse. The Cossack raised a futile blade. Carter battered it down with vengeful satisfaction, driving its point through the fellow's heart.
The last of the Russian trio lay dead upon the ground, but Carter, in short nervous excursions, rode back and forth as he searched for new prey. The mood for killing—and killing—was upon him. He was a primitive savage.
His horse shied violently and stood still. Blinded with rage, the rider would have wreaked his unreasoning hatred on the animal who, even for a second, had stopped the ceaseless, prowling movements inseparable from the man's strange jungle mood. With a curse he drove his spurs deep. The poor brute quivered, but would not budge. Carter looked ahead of him to ascertain the cause, determined if it was a living obstacle, to batter, slash, and cut it into nothingness.