She gave it to him; he cast his eyes upon it and exclaimed:—
"That man! Where is he? Merciful heaven! Can it be!"
And suddenly recovering himself, he darted towards the place where the sick Algerine was slowly endeavouring to follow them.
"Go with him," said Ellen; "follow him, Charles; go, Mr. Griffiths: surely he cannot know this man; perhaps some mischief may ensue."
They instantly obeyed; and now Ellen and Joanna standing still and looking earnestly after St. Aubyn, saw him with the rapidity of lightning fly to the Algerine: what he said they could not hear, but with an action of the most eager impatience, they saw him with one hand tear the turban from the brow of the Turk, and with the other seized him violently by the collar, while the poor trembling wretch sunk prostrate on the ground before him. By this time Griffiths and Charles Ross had reached them. St. Aubyn spoke, and instantly they seized the Algerine, raised, or rather dragged him from the ground, but kept him from moving, though indeed to move far was not in his power.
Ellen, unable longer to restrain her impatience to learn the meaning of this scene, now hastened towards them, though trembling so much Joanna could scarcely support her. As they approached, St. Aubyn exclaimed in a voice hoarse with contending passions:—
"Come not here, my Ellen; let not purity like thine breathe the air contaminated by that monster!
"Robber! Murderer! Vile apostate from thy God!" he cried, with gestures almost frantic, to the shaking wretch before him. "The hand of vengeance has at length overtaken thee, and long and dreadful is the account thou now must render. Yes, look at me; I am the man you so deeply injured; I am St. Aubyn.
"Go, Ellen," again he cried, "leave us; Joanna, go with her; Griffiths, attend them; Charles and I are enough to secure this villain; besides here are sailors who will assist us."
Ellen obeyed in silence as fast as her terrors would permit, for now she no longer doubted of the cause of all this scene, which to Joanna and Griffiths appeared as if some sudden madness had seized first Bayfield and then St. Aubyn.