Up this I was driven until we reached the headquarters of the
guerillas, which lay in a cleft close to the summit of the
mountain. There was the beacon which had cost me so much, a
square stack of wood, immediately above our heads. Below were
two or three huts which had belonged, no doubt, to goatherds, and
which were now used to shelter these rascals. Into one of these
I was cast, bound and helpless, and the dead body of my poor
comrade was laid beside me.
I was lying there with the one thought still consuming me, how to
wait a few hours and to get at that pile of fagots above my head,
when the door of my prison opened and a man entered. Had my
hands been free I should have flown at his throat, for it was
none other than de Pombal. A couple of brigands were at his
heels, but he ordered them back and closed the door behind him.
"You villain!" said I.
"Hush!" he cried. "Speak low, for I do not know who may be
listening, and my life is at stake. I have some words to say to
you, Colonel Gerard; I wish well to you, as I did to your dead
companion.
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