They had paid dearly for their temerity, however, for Nell Gwynne
was stamping the life out of one wretched fellow; whilst Lucifer
had broken the leg of a second, and had pinned his companion by the
arm, so that he was yelling aloud in his agony.
Lord Claud sprang in, and at the sound of his voice the horse
loosened his grip, and the man reeled hack against the wall, white
and bleeding, and cursing beneath his breath. Tom was too late to
save the life of the victim of the mare's anger, but he was in time
to strike up the pistol which another of the soldiers had pointed
at her, in the trembling hope of saving his comrade.
"If you fire you will drive her to madness, and she will kill every
man of you," said Lord Claud coolly. "She has a devil in her, and
is bullet proof; you had better leave meddling with both the
beasts."
The men crossed themselves in pious horror, and were glad enough to
back out of the place, carrying their dead and maimed companions
with them. Tom and Lord Claud did not linger longer than the time
needful for saddling the horses. They knew that the people of the
inn must be in collusion with the soldiers, and the sooner they
quitted the place the better.
They had long since left behind them the level plains, and were now
in a country that became increasingly mountainous and difficult.
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