The robbers then set out through the wood for the road, by which the
unsuspecting negro must pass. The heavy clouds which had crept in
upon the sky at the set of sun now began to part, and, before the
miscreants had emerged from the bush, the deep dark of their path was
here and there parted by a shaft of silvery light. Through the tree
tops a glimpse of the sky could be occasionally obtained; and
although no leaf quivered in this sombre swamp the clouds raced
across the face of the moon, sometimes shutting up the heavens in
dark, again allowing the glory to stream forth and bathe the sky in
pure splendour.
'We had better be mounted,' the chief said. 'The negro is a good
horseman, and he will likely have one or two others with him. We have
little time to lose.' The robbers then bent their steps to the
stables, where the horses of the band were kept. A deaf mute cared
for the horses, a man with a face so villainous looking, as to make
it entirely indescribable. Standing upon the top of the bleak common,
with drifts of moonlight shot from the openings, with flying clouds
above, every now and again falling upon it, it looked well like the
lair of mystery and crime.
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