We have already stated the upper part of his leggings
terminated about mid-thigh; from this to the hip, that
portion of the limb was completely bare, and disclosed,
at each movement of the garment that was suffered to fall
loosely over it, not the swarthy and copper-coloured
flesh of the Indian, but the pale though sun-burnt skin
of one of a more temperate clime. His age might be about
forty-five.
At the moment when the English detachment approached the
bend in the road, these two individuals were conversing
earnestly together, pausing only to puff at intervals
thick and wreathing volumes of smoke from their pipes,
which were filled with a mixture of tobacco and odoriferous
herbs. Presently, however, sounds that appeared familiar
to his ear arrested the attention of the wildly accoutred
being we have last described. It was the heavy roll of
the artillery carriages already advancing along the road,
and somewhat in the rear of the hut. To dash his pipe to
the ground, seize and cock and raise his rifle to his
shoulder, and throw himself forward in the eager attitude
of one waiting until the object of his aim should appear
in sight, was but the work of a moment.
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