Page 509 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

the dog in accents that the gale blew away from him before
he could recognize them. It was probable that some of the
soldiers had been sent to the assistance of McNab. Capture,
then, was certain. In his agony, the wretched man almost
promised himself repentance, should he escape this peril.
The dog, crashing through the underwood, gave one short,
sharp howl, and then ran mute.
The darkness had increased the gale. The wind, ravaging
the hollow heaven, had spread between the lightnings and
the sea an impenetrable curtain of black cloud. It seemed
possible to seize upon this curtain and draw its edge yet
closer, so dense was it. The white and raging waters were
blotted out, and even the lightning seemed unable to pen-
etrate that intense blackness. A large, warm drop of rain fell
upon Rex’s outstretched hand, and far overhead rumbled a
wrathful peal of thunder. The shrieking which he had heard
a few moments ago had ceased, but every now and then dull
but immense shocks, as of some mighty bird flapping the
cliff with monstrous wings, reverberated around him, and
shook the ground where he stood. He looked towards the
ocean, and a tall misty Form—white against the all-per-
vading blackness— beckoned and bowed to him. He saw it
distinctly for an instant, and then, with an awful shriek, as
of wrathful despair, it sank and vanished. Maddened with a
terror he could not define, the hunted man turned to meet
the material peril that was so close at hand.
With a ferocious gasp, the dog flung himself upon him.
John Rex was borne backwards, but, in his desperation, he
clutched the beast by the throat and belly, and, exerting

0 For the Term of His Natural Life