47858    It may have been that Barrymore had some private signal which we had neglected to give, or the fellow may have had some other reason for thinking that all was not well, but I could read his fears upon his wicked face.

47859    Any instant he might dash out the light and vanish in the darkness.

47860    I sprang forward, therefore, and Sir Henry did the same.

47861    At the same moment the convict screamed out a curse at us and hurled a rock which splintered up against the boulder which had sheltered us.

47862    I caught one glimpse of his short, squat, strongly-built figure as he sprang to his feet and turned to run.

47863    At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds.

47864    We rushed over the brow of the hill, and there was our man running with great speed down the other side, springing over the stones in his way with the activity of a mountain goat.

47865    A lucky long shot of my revolver might have crippled him, but I had brought it only to defend myself if attacked, and not to shoot an unarmed man who was running away.

47866    We were both fair runners and in good condition, but we soon found that we had no chance of overtaking him.

47867    We saw him for a long time in the moonlight until he was only a small speck moving swiftly among the boulders upon the side of a distant hill.

47868    We ran and ran until we were completely blown, but the space between us grew ever wider.

47869    Finally we stopped and sat panting on two rocks, while we watched him disappearing in the distance.

47870    And it was at this moment that there occurred a most strange and unexpected thing.

47871    We had risen from our rocks and were turning to go home, having abandoned the hopeless chase.

47872    The moon was low upon the right, and the jagged pinnacle of a granite tor stood up against the lower curve of its silver disc.