Jeremy did a gallant thing, for which I doubt whether I should have had
the presence of mind in danger. He saw that to swim his horse back again
would be almost certain death; as affording such a target, where even
a wound must be fatal. Therefore he struck the spurs into the nag, and
rode through the water straight at the man who was pointing the long gun
at him. If the horse had been carried off his legs, there must have been
an end of Jeremy; for the other men were getting ready to have another
shot at him. But luckily the horse galloped right on without any need
for swimming, being himself excited, no doubt, by all he had seen and
heard of it. And Jeremy lay almost flat on his neck, so as to give
little space for good aim, with the mane tossing wildly in front of him.
Now if that young fellow with the gun had his brains as ready as his
flint was, he would have shot the horse at once, and then had Stickles
at his mercy; but instead of that he let fly at the man, and missed him
altogether, being scared perhaps by the pistol which Jeremy showed him
the mouth of. And galloping by at full speed, Master Stickles tried to
leave his mark behind him, for he changed the aim of his pistol to the
biggest man, who was loading his gun and cursing like ten cannons. But
the pistol missed fire, no doubt from the flood which had gurgled in
over the holsters; and Jeremy seeing three horses tethered at a gate
just up the hill, knew that he had not yet escaped, but had more of
danger behind him. He tried his other great pistol at one of the
horses tethered there, so as to lessen (if possible) the number of his
pursuers. But the powder again failed him; and he durst not stop to cut
the bridles, bearing the men coming up the hill. So he even made the
most of his start, thanking God that his weight was light, compared at
least to what theirs was.

And another thing he had noticed which gave him some hope of escaping,
to wit that the horses of the Doones, although very handsome animals,
were suffering still from the bitter effects of the late long frost, and
the scarcity of fodder. "If they do not catch me up, or shoot me, in the
course of the first two miles, I may see my home again"; this was what
he said to himself as he turned to mark what they were about, from
the brow of the steep hill. He saw the flooded valley shining with the
breadth of water, and the trooper's horse on the other side, shaking
his drenched flanks and neighing; and