“Such a yell suddenly rang through and around his mansion, accompanied by the clashing of swords and cracking of pistols. It was—
“‘As if men fought upon the earth,
And fiends in upper air.’
“‘Hurrah!’ cried Brackenbury. ‘Our ears are saved.’
“‘Off with them—quick,’ cried Dolosa, ‘to the dungeon, and garrote them both.’
“He pulled a pistol from his belt as he spoke and rushed away to join the melée.
“Meanwhile the black giants—not the two whom they had so frightened in their bedroom—hurried Brackenbury and O’Brady along a corridor.
“But little did they know the mettle that O’Brady was made of.
“All at once he stopped short. He quickly bent down, and, to the utter astonishment of his would-be executioners, he undid a leg.
“That leg, Brackenbury said, was a good old-fashioned one, and of considerable weight.
“Before the hulking negroes recovered their fright, one was felled to the ground.