have met their deaths there! it sucks them in like a leech!"

"How do you mean to dispatch the lad in the next room?" asked the old
woman in an under tone. The elder son made her a sign to be silent, and
pointed towards the door where their trembling auditor was concealed;
while the other, with an expression of brutal ferocity, passed his
bloody knife across his throat.

The pedlar boy possessed a bold and daring spirit, which was now roused
to desperation; but in any open resistance the odds were so completely
against him, that flight seemed his best resource. He gently stole to
the window, and having by one desperate effort broken the rusty bolt by
which the casement had been fastened, he let himself down without noise
or difficulty. This betokens good, thought he, pausing an instant in
dreadful hesitation what direction to take. This momentary deliberation
was fearfully interrupted by the hoarse voice of the men calling
aloud, "_The boy has fled--let loose the bloodhound!_" These words
sunk like a death-knell on his heart, for escape appeared now
impossible, and his nerves seemed to melt away like wax in a furnace.
Shall I perish without a struggle! thought he, rousing himself to
exertion, and, helpless and terrified as a hare pursued by its ruthless
hunters, he fled across the heath. Soon the baying of the bloodhound
broke the stillness of the night, and the voice of its masters sounded
through the moor, as they endeavoured to accelerate its speed,--panting
and breathless the boy pursued his hopeless career, but every moment
his pursuers seemed to gain upon his failing steps. The hound was
unimpeded by the darkness which was to him so impenetrable, and its
noise rung louder and deeper on his ear--while the lanterns which were
carried by the men gleamed near and distinct upon his vision.

At his fullest speed, the terrified boy fell with violence over a heap
of stones, and having nothing on but his shirt, he was severely cut in
every limb. With one wild cry to Heaven for assistance, he continued
prostrate on the earth, bleeding, and nearly insensible. The hoarse
voices of the men, and the still louder baying of the dog, were now so
near, that instant destruction seemed inevitable,--already he felt
himself in their fangs, and the bloody knife of the assassin appeared
to gleam before his eyes,--despair renewed his energy, and once more,
in an agony of affright that seemed verging towards madness, he rushed
forward so