Ha! how I shook my fist at them, the dogs, and
how I vowed that one day my Hussars and I would make the
reckoning level!
De Pombal knew how the outposts were placed and all the paths
which led through the forest. But to avoid these villains we had
to plunge among the hills and walk for many a weary mile. And
yet how gladly would I have walked those extra leagues if only
for one sight which they brought to my eyes! It may have been
two o'clock in the morning when we halted upon the bare shoulder
of a hill over which our path curled. Looking back we saw the
red glow of the embers of the beacon as if volcanic fires were
bursting from the tall peak of Merodal. And then, as I gazed, I
saw something else-- something which caused me to shriek with joy
and to fall upon the ground, rolling in my delight. For, far
away upon the southern horizon, there winked and twinkled one
great yellow light, throbbing and flaming, the light of no house,
the light of no star, but the answering beacon of Mount d'Ossa,
which told that the army of Clausel knew what Etienne Gerard had
been sent to tell them.
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