CHAPTER XVI.
A SHADOWY PURSUIT.
It was a fearful pledge to exact, but Jack Everson gave it withouthesitation.
"You understand me; enough; let us lose no more time; I will turn tothe right; good-bye; we are all in the hands of God."
There was not a tear in the eye of the parent. His heart might be tornby grief, but he was now the Roman from whose lips no murmuring washeard.
It seemed to Jack Everson that the strangeness of the incidents of thepast hour had lifted him into a state of exaltation. He never feltcalmer nor more self-possessed than when hurrying over the path, riflein hand, revolver at his hip with the belief that there was not onechance in a thousand that he would ever again look upon the one who hadwon his heart when the two were on the other side of the world and forwhose sake he was ready to go to the uttermost lengths of the earth.
His feeling was: "They have stolen her from us, but by the Eternal sheshall cost them dear!"
There was no thought of what all this implied to himself. He did notcare what the consequences were, so far as he was concerned. It cameto be a legend among the men desperately defending their families andthemselves during the horrors of the Sepoy mutiny, that in fighting theunspeakable fiends, the European should save a bullet apiece for hisdear ones and one for himself.
Such was the resolve of the young American who was now making all hasteto find his beloved and her captors, and settling down into thatresolution he acted with the coolness of a veteran.
The first truth that impressed itself upon him was that the path whichhe was following steadily ascended, being quite steep in many places.This showed as a matter of course that he was attaining higher ground.He was not familiar enough with the country to know that he wasapproaching a steep ridge of hills, for the doctor had told him nothingof the fact, and the elevated section had been passed in the boat atnight. He observed, too, that his course trended to the right, provingthat he was penetrating deeper into the country.
"If the line that the doctor is following holds straight on we mustapproach each other, but his may turn more than mine--confound it!"
He had reached a point where the paths forked again. Supposing he hadbeen fortunate enough to take the right course at the beginning, howcould he maintain it?
Swallowing his exasperation, he reflected coolly. The trail to theleft was less travelled than the one which kept directly forward. Hebelieved the Ghoojurs had kept to it possibly because there was lessdanger of pursuit. One fact was self-evident: nothing was to be gainedby standing still, while there was a chance of accomplishing somethingby going on. With scarcely a minute's hesitation he advanced at arapid stride over the more faintly marked course, peering in advancefor a glimpse of his enemies.
Since the latter had not gained much start it would seem that he oughtto be close upon them, always provided he was traveling in their actualfootsteps. The ground continued rough and broken, but it had no effecton his progress. Something like a shadow whisked across the path infront at the moment of his passing round a turn. Some animal hadcaught sight of him, and, scared by the vision, had leaped into thejungle at the side. Whether it was a tiger, leopard, cheetah, wildboar or another brute he did not know or care. If it dared to disputehis way he would shoot.
He was pressing forward in this reckless, desperate fashion, when hedropped as if he had collided with a stone wall, and his heart almostceased its beating. He had caught the faint report of a firearm. Itcame from a point on his right and sounded as if caused by a revolver,rather than a larger weapon. The thought that came to him was that itwas the pistol of Mary Marlowe!
"She is at bay; she may have fired it at herself, and yet I do notthink she would do that until some of the bullets had reached thewretches who have captured her. I am following the wrong path, forthis one leads me away from her."
Without an instant's hesitation he turned and began his return on aloping trot. He was incensed with himself because of his mistake, andyet there was no reasonable cause for such feeling, but grief is asthoughtless as love, and he was stirred to the very depth of his soulby both. Reaching the last forking, he did not pause, but set out overthe main trail.
In front of him towered a mass of rocks higher than any he had yetseen. The path wound about these, but instead of following it, heclimbed to the highest part.
"I may gain sight of something from up there," was his thought as hepushed on, "that will be of some help."
And he did see something from the crest which fairly took away hisbreath.