"Travel's der word," said Slung.
"O' coss it is: an' if we ketch 'um in a dark alley, or round a sharp corner, won't we smash his daylights in!"
And the one with his hand on his knife, concealed in the pocket of his overcoat, and the other with the cord of the slung-shot wound about his wrist, they resumed their hunt in the track of Dermoyne.
Unconscious of the danger which strode stealthily in his wake, Dermoyne clasped the Red Book to his side with one arm, and with the other supported the form of the trembling Barnhurst.
"Yes, we'll go home," muttered the false clergyman—"Home!" He pronounced the word with a singular emphasis, like a man half bereft of his senses. "You can work your vengeance on me there, for the worst has come."
Then, for a long time, they pursued their way in silence, turning toward the East River, as they drew near the head of Broadway.
As he drew near his destination—near the end of his singular march,—a wild hope agitated the heart of the wretched man, half stupefied as he was by despair. It was his last hope.
"This man has feeling," he thought, "and I will try him."
They stood, at length, in the hall of a quiet mansion, the hanging lamp above their heads shedding its waving light into their faces. Barnhurst had entered the door by a night key, forgetting, in his agitation, to close it after him. Arthur dropped his arm, and they confronted each other, surveying each other's faces for the first time in four long hours.
It was a singular sight. Both lividly pale, and with the fire of widely contrasted emotions, giving new fire to their gaze, they silently regarded each other. The tall and angular form of the clergyman was in contrast with the compact figure of the mechanic: and Herman's visage, singular eyes, aquiline nose, bland complexion, and hair sleekly disposed behind the ears, was altogether different from the face of the mechanic:—bold forehead, surmounted by masses of brown hair, short and curling—clear gray eyes, wide mouth, with firm lips, and round and massive chin; you might read the vast difference between their minds in their widely contrasted faces.