The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 279: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BRONZE STATUE. 277 her quick eye caught the mancuvre|the bravos of the Bronze Statue hem- and comprehended the murderous in- tention of the priest; but his dagger in its descent inflicted a wound upon her arm, and the blood spirted forth upon her garments. All this had occurred, as it were, in the twinkling of an eye, and before De Colmar had even time to draw his good sword from its sheath; but now his blade swept hissingly through the air; and, as the Carthusian’s armed follow- ers rushed on at the came moment, the the battle was on the point of com- mencing in real earnest, but on very unequal terms, when Angela Wildon, clad in her brilliant armor, burst round the angle of the building and plunged into the midst of the melee. CHAPTER LXX. ILDEGARDO CASTLE. A momENTARY pause followed the sudden appearance of the forest-maid- en in her steel panoply and with her vizor closed; and the octogenarian Ber- nard, receiving the fainting Satanais in his arms, was bearing her aside, when Father Cyprian exclaimed to his armed followers, ‘Seize her, my brave men! seize her! By your oaths, | adjure you to seize her!’ And, as if some ferocious demon were urging him on, the priest rushed towards Sir Ernest de Colmar and An- gela Wildon, who side by side were covering the retreat of Satanais. ‘Once more we fight in each other’s company, O gallant unknown !’ exclaim- ed the Austrian knight; then as his eagle glance rapidly numbered the ene- my, he added, ‘Seven to two are the odds, brave youth; but we have cut our way through as many on a former oc- casion !’ ‘+And we will not prove ourselves re- creants now !’ cried Angela Waildon, as her bright weapon, sweeping through | the air, dashed Father Cyprian’s dagger from his hand. The weapon, stained with the blood | of Satanais, flew like a rocket to a con- siderable distance; and the priest, springing aside from the midst of the conflict, left his armed servitors to close with the Austrian knight and the forest- maiden. And for a minute the position of these two was perilous in the extreme, for med them in, formed a circle about them, and assailed them with a despe- rate fury. Back to back, did De Col- mar and Angela Wildon oppose them- selves to this terrific onslaught; and | while the wondrous skill of the former served him as well as a buckler, the 'proof armor of the Jatter turned aside ‘the points and the edges of the weapons which rained their blows upon the shin- ing panoply. Yes,—for a minute the conflict was 'tremendous! a minute, so short a space ‘in the ordinary occurrences of life and. ‘of which so many pass without our ' | knowing how,—but now constituting a |period in which much was done and lives were lost! For behold! the brand of the Austri- an knight has stricken two of the armed servitors dead at his feet, and that of Angela Wildon has disabled another. Still there are three left, and these fight with the rage of desperation and the fury of demons! And what ren- ders the position of affairs the more ex- tremely critical, is the fact that the quick eye of Sir Ernest de Colmar ob- serves Father Cyprian hastening in the direction of the entrance to the spiral staircase leading to the summit of the Donjon; and it is thither that the vene- rable Bernard has already borne the wounded and insensible Satanais! The Carthusian, then, is evidently in pur- suit of the Daughter of Satan; and in a few moments he will overtake her.— But if De Colmar rushes after him, he will be leaving the brave unknown to a certain massacre at the hands of the three desperados who are assailing them ! All these reflections passed like light- ‘ning through the brain of our hero; and he saw that in a few instants much ‘must be gained, or much lost! ‘The life of Satanais was doubtless at stake —it hung upon a thread—for if the Carthusian succeeded in reaching her first, he would doubtless immolate her to his savage and unaccountable rage. | Never was need so great—never was ‘emergency so pressing! But even while the very existence of this tre- /mendous contingency and grave uncer- ‘tainty was flashing across the mental vision of the Austrian warrior, the 'whole affair was brought to a decisive issue. For Angela’s gleaming blade struck down another of the armed bra- lvos; and atthe same moment De Col- Imar stretched at his feet the third —EE Sea ———— <a <i LL LL comicbooks.com