er. Had I not known of the passage I
should not have had a chance of escape. I searched with beating heart
for the hollow ground. My foot discovered it by the sound. I removed
the branches and the bundle of brambles, and crept into a hole, drawing
them again over me. I found there was space before me, so I crept on.
As I began to move, I judged by the sound of their voices that the
horsemen had reached the thicket.

"`I saw him near about here, to a certainty,' said one; `he cannot be
far from this.'

"`We will unearth him, the impious rebel, if he is hid near here,'
exclaimed another.

"`He ran fast; he may have got away again on the other side of the
thicket,' said a third.

"`Let us try this place first,' cried the man who had previously spoken,
and immediately several shots were fired into the thicket.

"`Come out, you rebel!--come out!' exclaimed several together.

"These words gave me courage, for it convinced me that my pursuers knew
nothing of my place of concealment, and also that they possessed no
superabundance of bravery or zeal. Had they been very zealous, they
would not have cried `come out!' but they would have forced their way
in, and dragged me out. So I lay snug, while they expended their powder
and shot on the harmless bushes. My only fear was, that they would
shoot each other. It would have been wrong, you know, to wish them
ill--they were only doing what, in their ignorance, they thought their
duty.

"I lay all the time perfectly quiet, but without alarm, only wishing
that they would go away, and allow me to continue my journey. I was
anxious, also, to discover by anything they said what had become of my
kind friend Sidor, but they did not mention him. Still, I knew that his
chance of escape was very small; all I could do was to pray that he
might be supported in his affliction.

"My pursuers continued beating about the bush for some minutes; at last
one exclaimed, `There is no use in looking here, men; he has gone on,
depend on it.'

"`One hunt more before we go!' shouted another. `Unearth the miscreant!
Unearth the heretic! Drive him out from this--drive him out!--he's
here, depend on it!'

"Scarcely had these words been uttered, when a number of shots were
again fired into the thicket--the people apparently loading and firing
as fast as they could.

"`If he is in there, he must be killed or wounded by this time, so now,
men, let us try if we can find him!' cried one of