The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 327: what you’re looking at

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

THE BRONZE STATUE. Sir Ernest de Colmar seized the do- cument, rent away the silken string which fastened it, tore it open, and glanced over the contents with.the ra- pidity of one who deeply felt that-he stood on the threshold of some astound- ing discovery. The letter contained but a few words, and these were as follow : ‘« Pause ere it be too late—I conjure you to pause! nor interfere with the commands which my emissaries must execute, by fair means or foul. Lor Gloria and Satanais are one and the f>3 same person: As if a thunderbolt had stricken him, Sir Ernest de Colmar reeled and stag- gered beneath the force of this tremen- dous revelation ; his sword fell from one hand, the letter dropped from the other __a dizziness seized upon his brain, as if his senses were abandoning him, and he sank down without a moan on the pavement floor of the turret-chamber. CHAPTER LXXX. ALTENDORF CASTLE. Tue reader has not forgotten that funeral procession which was on its way from Prague to Altendorf Castle; nor will he fail to recollect that when it halted at the inn where Ermach, the page, was assassinated by Gloria, Father Cyprian learnt all the details of that black deed from the lips of the landlord and landlady. The manner in which Gloria had made her escape excited in the priest’s mind a suspicion of the most extraordinary nature ; and his sagacity, assisted by the knowledge of some por- tions of Gloria’s earlier history, led him to the speedy conclusion that there was in reality no such being as Satanais, or rather that the Daughter of Glory and the Daughter of Satau were one and the same person. This astounding discovery, the cer- tainty of which he could not for an in- stant doubt, rendered him more than ever anxious to wreak his vengeance upon that singular being of such trans- eendent loveliness; and, having ascer- tained from the landlord of the way- side hostel that Linda and Beatrice were continuing their journey south- ; Satanais, ward in company with Sir Ernest de ‘on account of the hue and cry raised. jon; 325° Colmar, his shrewdness enabled hinw to penetrate at a glance into the mean- ing of this arrangement. In a word, he saw as clearly as possible that though Gloria might have disappeared by the murder, yet that Satanais (or rather, the Daughter of Glory changed. for the time iato the Daughter of Sa- tan) would rejoin the knight’s party a some point farther along the road. Im- patient, therefore, to make the lady his prisoner, he took with him half a doze of the armed men belonging to the fu- neral procession; and taking a tempo- rary leave of the Baron of A ltendorf, the Marquis of Schomberg, and the Princess Elizabetha, he hastened on iat. advance, accompanied by his bravos. Urging their horses to the utmest speed, the Carthusian and his followers. spared not the panting animals ; am obtaining frequent relays at certaim: way-side inns where they were well known and the landlords of which were secret agents of the tribunal of the Bronze Statue, they were enabled to make immense progress in a very shert. time. At the hostel where De Ceol- mar’s party had spent the previous night,—that same hostel where Satanais rejoined the knight and whence Angeia departed so precipitately,—the Cartha— sian found that he was still upon the right track; and, provided with fresh steeds, he and his bravos continued the chase as if life and death depended upon the issue. But, on the other hand, the Austriam: knight and his party rode leisurely along. the grand highway ; and thus their pur- suers were gaibing upon them with an- almost incredible speed. By frequent inquiries at the way-side inns and cot~ tages, the Carthusian still kept in the right track; and he also gleaned the accurate information as to the course adopted by De Colmar and his compa- nions when they diverged from the road leading near Altendorf Castle and struck into the more circuitous route which swept past the ruins of Ildegar- do Castle. On approaching those blackened and. monldering remains of a once mighty stronghold, Father Cyprian observed three figures on the roof of the Don- and his quick eye enabled him te recognise Sir Ernest de Colmar. 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