it, when he, more quick than I, thrust me away with
his feet and hands, and once more obtained possession of it. He waved it
furiously over my head, and dealt me two wounds, a thrust and a deep
gash, both in the upper part of the left arm; I thought I was lost, and
despair alone gave me the courage to use my own knife. I made a thrust
at his breast; this he warded off, and I only succeeded in wounding him
severely in the hand. The Count sprang forward and seized the fellow
from behind, and thus afforded me an opportunity of raising myself from
the ground. The whole affair had not taken more than a few seconds.

The negro's fury was now roused to its highest pitch by the wounds he
had received. He gnashed his teeth at us like a wild beast, and
flourished his knife with frightful rapidity. The Count, in his turn,
had received a cut right across the hand, and we had been irrevocably
lost, had not Providence sent us assistance. We heard the tramp of
horses' hoofs upon the road, upon which the negro instantly left us and
sprang into the wood. Immediately afterwards two horsemen turned a
corner of the road, and we hurried towards them; our wounds, which were
bleeding freely, and the way in which our parasols were hacked, soon
made them understand the state of affairs. They asked us which direction
the fugitive had taken, and, springing from their horses, hurried after
him; their efforts, however, would have been fruitless, if two negroes,
who were coming from the opposite side, had not helped them. As it was,
the fellow was soon captured.

He was pinioned, and, as he would not walk, severely beaten, most of the
blows being dealt upon the head, so that I feared the poor fellow's
skull would be broken. In spite of this, he never moved a muscle, and
lay, as if insensible to feeling, upon the ground. The two other negroes
were obliged to seize hold of him, when he endeavored to bite every one
within his reach like a wild beast, and carry him to the nearest house.
Our preservers, as well as the Count and myself, accompanied them. We
then had our wounds dressed, and afterwards continued our journey, not,
it is true, entirely devoid of fear, especially when we met one or more
negroes, but without any further mishap, and with a continually
increasing admiration of the beautiful scenery.

[The negro was supposed to be either drunk or insane, but it
proved that he had been punished by his master for some
offence, and