He knelt down on one knee, and quick as thought took aim; his keen and hawk-like eye glanced along the smooth rifle-barrel—there was a flash—a sharp report; the form of Zahroun wheeled frantically round for a moment in the air, and then fell flat beside his rescued prisoner.
'Dioul!' said Callum, as he coolly reloaded, and cast about his musket; 'tha chried mi gu'n d'thoir am fear ad tuille trioblaidh dhuinn!' (The devil! I don't think yonder lout will trouble us more.)
But he was mistaken; for again the figure of Zahreun staggered wildly up, and he fired a pistol at random, and, in revenge, full at us. I felt a sharp twinge in my left side, as if a hot iron had seared me suddenly. I became giddy, and as I tottered, the dread of leaving life and all the world entered my soul, vividly and painfully.
'O Callum!' I exclaimed, and fell backward into his arms; 'the villain has shot me!'
A volley rang in my ears as the Highlanders poured all their shot and vengeance on Zahroun, who fell prone to the turf, literally riddled by rifle-balls.
Callum's deadly aim, by bringing this savage down and arresting his upraised knife, had averted a great calamity, and saved the life of Fanny Clavering. Another second had seen our terrified beauty laid at the feet of the galiondgi a corpse.
Fanny knew and felt all she owed to Callum, for she had seen him kneel and aim when others shrank from the perilous task; and as he sprang lightly up the rock, and tenderly raised her, she impulsively threw herself with a burst of transport into his arms; for in a moment she recognized her former acquaintance and guide over the steep craigs and heath-clad mountains of Glen Ora.
'Callum Dhu—Callum Mac Ian!' she exclaimed, 'and you it is who have saved me—oh Callum, how I shall love you!'
The features of Callum were strongly marked, and bore evidence of deep and bitter thoughts, and of ready passions. His eyes were keen, and, by turns, fierce and thoughtful, sad, and winning. His bearing was soldier-like; his moustaches were smartly trimmed; his eyebrows were thick and well defined. Fanny, a constitutional coquette, brought all her batteries to bear upon the handsome Highlander; and the moment that her native spirit of fun and flirtation replaced her terror of death, she would have no other hand and no other arm than those of her 'preserver, her dear, dear old friend Callum,' to conduct her to the yacht, and assist her up the side on board.
There, too, I was conveyed in an almost inanimate state; and the alarm for my safety was greatly increased by the total absence of any medical attendance.