her he was
ashamed of turning from the first conflict, or he was desirous, at any
risk, to reach Kolozsvar at the appointed time, and instead of
retreating by the bridge, he galloped towards the other end of the
pass, where the enemy rushed upon him from every side, yelling
hideously.

"Back, Wallachian dogs!" cried Imre, cutting two of them down, while
several others sprang forward with the scythes.

Two shots whistled by, and Imre, letting go the bridle, cut right and
left, his sword gleaming rapidly among the awkward weapons; and taking
advantage of a moment in which the enemy's charge began to slacken, he
suddenly dashed through the crowd towards the outlet of the rock,
without perceiving that another party awaited him above the rocks with
great stones, with which they prepared to crush him as he passed.

He was only a few paces from the spot, when a gigantic figure, armed
with a short broad-axe, and with a Roman helmet on his head, descended
from the rock in front of him, and seizing the reins of the horse
forced him to halt. The young man aimed a blow at his enemy's head,
and the helmet fell back, cut through the middle, but the force of the
blow had broken his sword in two; and the horse lifted by his giant
foe, reared, so that the rider, losing his balance, was thrown against
the side of the rock, and fell senseless to the ground.

At the same instant a shot was fired toward them from the top of the
rock.

"Who fired there?" cried the giant, in a voice of thunder. The
bloodthirsty Wallachians would have rushed madly on their defenseless
prey, had not the giant stood between him and them.

"Who fired on me?" he sternly exclaimed. The Wallachians stood back in
terror.

"It was not on you, Decurio, that I fired, but on the hussar,"
stammered out one of the men, on whom the giant had fixed his eye.

"You lie, traitor! Your ball struck my armor, and had I not worn a
shirt of mail, it would have pierced my heart."

The man turned deadly pale, trembling from head to foot.

"My enemies have paid you to murder me?" The savage tried to speak,
but words died upon his lips.

"Hang him instantly--he is a traitor!"

The rest of the gang immediately seized the culprit and carried him to
the nearest tree, from whence his shrieks soon testified that his
sentence was being put in execution.

The Decurio remained alone with the young man; and hastily lifting
him, still senseless, from the ground, he mounted his ho