“Heaven forefend,” returned our hero, fervently. “I had hoped, for Kate’s sake, that they were dead.”
The giant did not reply, but looked to the priming of his rifle, and walked to the mouth of the cave.
“Halt! White Snake!”
A yell of horror pierced the almost palpable gloom, that brooded everywhere, and a groan quickly followed.
“For Heaven’s sake, spare this life of mine! Mercy! mercy! I don’t want to die now—no, no. I’m not fit to stand before the Great Judge to-day. Spare! spare! for the love of life!”
The words were couched in the most abject accents, and the teeth of the unseen speaker chattered like dice in the silence that followed the utterance of the last.
“I’m going to spare you, dog!” hissed a voice, so near the coward that he instinctively shrunk away. “I mean that I’ll spare you on one condition.”
“Name it—quick, for mercy’s sake!”
“You must do my bidding.”