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Prester John-Part27_John Buchan(1875-1940)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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see if it had suffered any harm.

'I hope it isn't scratched,' I said. 'Henriques trod on it when



I hit him.'

Laputa peered at the gems like a mother at a child who has



had a fall. I saw my chance and took it. With a great heave I

pulled the boulder down into the pool. It made a prodigious



splash, sending a shower of spray over Laputa and the Collar.

In cover of it I raced up the shelf, straining for the shelter of



the juniper tree.

A shot rang out and struck the rock above me. A second



later I had reached the tree and was scrambling up the crack

beyond it.



Laputa did not fire again. He may have distrusted his

shooting, or seen a better way of it. He dashed through the



stream and ran up the shelf like a klipspringer after me. I felt

rather than saw what was happening, and with my heart in my



mouth I gathered my dregs of energy for the last struggle.

You know the nightmare when you are pursued by some



awful terror, and, though sick with fear, your legs have a

strange numbness, and you cannot drag them in obedience to



the will. Such was my feeling in the crack above the juniper

tree. In truth, I had passed the bounds of my endurance. Last



night I had walked fifty miles, and all day I had borne the

torments of a dreadfulsuspense. I had been bound and gagged



and beaten till the force was out of my limbs. Also, and above

all, I had had little food, and I was dizzy with want of sleep.



My feet seemed leaden, my hands had no more grip than

putty. I do not know how I escaped falling into the pool, for



my head was singing and my heart thumping in my throat. I

seemed to feel Laputa's great hand every second clawing at



my heels.

I had reason for my fears. He had entered the crack long



before I had reached the top, and his progress was twice as fast

as mine. When I emerged on the topmost shelf he was scarcely



a yard behind me. But an overhang checked his bulky figure

and gave me a few seconds' grace. I needed it all, for these last



steps on the shelf were the totterings of an old man. Only a

desperate resolution and an extremeterror made me drag one



foot after the other. Blindly I staggered on to the top of the

ravine, and saw before me the Schimmel grazing in the light of



the westering sun.

I forced myself into a sort of drunken run, and crawled into



the saddle. Behind me, as I turned, I could see Laputa's

shoulders rising over the edge. I had no knife to cut the knee-



halter, and the horse could not stir.

Then the miracle happened. When the rope had gagged me,



my teeth must have nearly severed it at one place, and this

Laputa had not noticed when he used it as a knee-halter. The



shock of my entering the saddle made the Schimmel fling up

his head violently, and the rope snapped. I could not find the



stirrups, but I dug my heels into his sides, and he leaped forward.

At the same moment Laputa began to shoot. It was a foolish



move, for he might have caught me by running, since I had

neither spurs nor whip, and the horse was hampered by the



loose end of rope at his knee. In any case, being an indifferent

shot, he should have aimed at the Schimmel, not at me; but I



suppose he wished to save his charger. One bullet sang past

my head; a second did my business for me. It passed over my



shoulder, as I lay low in the saddle, and grazed the beast's

right ear. The pain maddened him, and, rope-end and all, he



plunged into a wild gallop. Other shots came, but they fell far

short. I saw dimly a native or two - the men who had followed



us - rush to intercept me, and I think a spear was flung. But

in a flash we were past them, and their cries faded behind me.



I found the bridle, reached for the stirrups, and galloped

straight for the sunset and for freedom.



CHAPTER XVIII

HOW A MAN MAY SOMETIMES PUT HIS TRUST IN A HORSE



I had long passed the limit of my strength. Only constant

fear and wild alternations of hope had kept me going so long,



and now that I was safe I became light-headed in earnest. The

wonder is that I did not fall off. Happily the horse was good



and the ground easy, for I was powerless to do any guiding. I

simply sat on his back in a silly glow of comfort, keeping a line



for the dying sun, which I saw in a nick of the Iron Crown

Mountain. A sort of childish happiness possessed me. After






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