“I cannot love you as you mean,” said Malcolm. “I promise to be your friend, but more is out of my power.”
A fierce light came into the girl’s eyes. But that instant a terrible cry, such as Malcolm had never heard, but which he knew must be Kelpie’s, rang through the air, followed by the shouts of men, the tones of fierce execration, and the clash and clang of hoofs.
“Good God!” he exclaimed, and forgetting everything else, sprang from the bed, and ran to the window outside his door.
The light of their lanterns dimly showed a confused crowd in the yard of the mews, and amidst the hellish uproar of their coarse voices he could hear Kelpie plunging and kicking. Again she uttered the same ringing scream. He threw the window open and cried to her that he was coming, but the noise was far too great for his enfeebled voice. Hurriedly he added a garment or two to his half-dress, rushed to the stair, passing his new friend, who watched anxiously at the head of it, without seeing her, and shot from the house.
CHAPTER L.
THE DEMONESS AT BAY.
When he reached the yard of the mews, the uproar had nothing abated. But when he cried out to Kelpie, through it all came a whinny of appeal, instantly followed by a scream. When he got up to the lanterns, he found a group of wrathful men with stable-forks surrounding the poor animal, from whom the blood was streaming before and behind. Fierce as she was, she dared not move, but stood trembling, with the sweat of terror pouring from her. Yet her eye showed that not even terror had cowed her. She was but biding her time. Her master’s first impulse was to scatter the men right and left, but on second thoughts, of which he was even then capable, he saw that they might have been driven to apparent brutality in defence of their lives, and besides he could not tell what Kelpie might do if suddenly released. So he caught her by the broken halter, and told them to fall back. They did so carefully—it seemed unwillingly. But the mare had eyes and ears only for her master. What she had never done before, she nosed him over face and shoulders, trembling all the time. Suddenly one of her tormentors darted forward, and gave her a terrible prod in the off hind quarter. But he paid dearly for it. Ere he could draw back, she lashed out, and shot him half across the yard with his knee joint broken. The whole set of them rushed at her.
“Leave her alone,” shouted Malcolm, “or I will take her part. Between us we’ll do for a dozen of you.”
“The devil’s in her,” said one of them.
“You’ll find more of him in that rascal groaning yonder. You had better see to him. He’ll never do such a thing again, I fancy. Where is Merton?”
They drew off and went to help their comrade, who lay senseless.