, that the poor girl showed no terror--but hastened to obey:
and Edward Walladmor took her hand as she passed, and pressed it to
thank her for her sympathy.

Whence was the uproar? Some eye had detected the ladder: the alarm was
given: at the very same moment the crew of the strange ship from
Antwerp, half blacks and people of colour, remorseless and used to
deeds of violence but devotedly attached to their former commander, had
been met by Kilmary: the partial escape had been reported to them: but
after waiting some time the delay alarmed them; they had pushed on
beneath the walls of the castle; the removal of the ladder confirmed
their fears: and, soon after the sheriff's discovery of the escape, the
attack had been made on the gate: this had given way to the strength
and impetuosity of the assailants: and the great hall with its flights
of stair-case and ranges of galleries, rising tier above tier, was now
filled with slaughter and confusion. The uproar and clamour increased:
like death-notes every sound and every echo smote the heart of Edward
Walladmor: every life, that was lost, was lost for him: and to linger
any longer was to endanger his father's castle and all whom it
contained.

Hastily the parting kiss was given: hastily the parting tears were
shed: they parted as those part who part for ever: and with a
shuddering gesture Edward Walladmor threw open the door which laid bare
the bloody tragedy on the stairs. The hall, of immense altitude, was
filled with surges of smoke: overhead it formed a thick canopy or
awning, with pendent volumes, that here and there were broken and
showed a stair-case slippery with blood and a chaos of black faces,
mulattoes, dragoons, torches, gleaming arms, and accoutrements. Every
gloomy corridor that issued upon the landings of the stair-case,--every
dusky archway, some in utter darkness, some pierced with partial
flashings of the flambeaux, were the scenes of mortal struggle, flight,
or dying agony. Such a spectacle, by the demands which it made on his
firmness and presence of mind, restored Captain Walladmor to the
tranquil composure of the quarter-deck. Miss Walladmor followed him
with her eyes, and stood, with uplifted hands, beneath the archway. He
moved on with his usual self-possession and dignity: he called loudly
in Spanish to his former crew: they knew the voice of their heroic
commander; and sent up a loud huzza of welcome. That sound drew upon
him the attention of th