From that moment Miss de Haldimar lost sight of her
generous protector. Meanwhile the tumult of execrations,
and groans, and yells, was at its height; and one by one
she saw the unhappy officers sink beneath weapons yet
reeking with the blood of their comrades, until not more
than three or four, including her father and the commander
of the schooner, were left. At length Major de Haldimar,
overcome by exertion, and faint from wounds, while his
wild eye darted despairingly on his daughter, had his
sword-arm desperately wounded, when the blade dropped to
the earth, and a dozen weapons glittered above his head.
The wild shriek that had startled Clara then burst from
the agonised heart of her maddened cousin, and she darted
forward to cover her father's head with her arms. But
her senses failed her in the attempt; and the last thing
she recollected was falling over the weltering form of
Middleton, who pressed her, as she lay there, in the
convulsive energy of death, to his almost pulseless heart.
A vague consciousness of being raised from the earth,
and borne rapidly through the air, came over her even in
the midst of her insensibility, but without any definite
perception of the present, or recollection of the past,
until she suddenly, when about midway between the fort
and the point of wood that led to Chabouiga, opened her
eyes, and found herself in the firm grasp of an Indian,
whose features, even in the hasty and fearful glance she
cast at the countenance, she fancied were not unfamiliar
to her.
Pages:
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559