They then quitted hold of each other, and the enthusiast,
rendered fiercer by the contest, glared on Morton with an eye expressive
of frantic revenge.
"Thou hast my secret," he exclaimed; "thou must be mine, or die!"
"I contemn your threats," said Morton; "I pity you, and leave you."
But as he turned to retire, Burley stept before him, pushed the oak-trunk
from its resting place, and as it fell thundering and crashing into the
abyss beneath, drew his sword, and cried out, with a voice that rivalled
the roar of the cataract and the thunder of the falling oak, "Now thou
art at bay! Fight,--yield, or die!" and standing in the mouth of the
cavern, he flourished his naked sword.
"I will not fight with the man that preserved my father's life," said
Morton. "I have not yet learned to say the words, 'I yield;' and my life
I will rescue as I best can."
So speaking, and ere Balfour was aware of his purpose, he sprung past
him, and exerting that youthful agility of which he possessed an uncommon
share, leaped clear across the fearful chasm which divided the mouth of
the cave from the projecting rock on the opposite side, and stood there
safe and free from his incensed enemy. He immediately ascended the
ravine, and, as he turned, saw Burley stand for an instant aghast with
astonishment, and then, with the frenzy of disappointed rage, rush into
the interior of his cavern.
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