640 THE RED TARTANE. 



hands, exclaimed as he pointed to heaven, " In the name of our 

 Saviour, thou must save us ! In the name of God, I command thee !" 



A wild and taunting laugh from the Rover mingled in reply with 

 the noise of the advancing surge, which was every instant rendering 

 smaller the space occupied by the little band. 



The Spaniards tremblingly made the sign of the cross ; but one, 

 cocking his carbine, was again about to level at the Gitano, when 

 the monk, catching his arm, exclaimed, " Hold ! lie alone can save 

 us he alone knows the secret passage." 



Two more rattling vollies now came from the rock, wounding at 

 each discharge a smuggler, and the word of command given by the 

 officer could be distinctly heard. 



The horror of the monk was at its height ; he crawled to the 

 margin of the water, and shouted, with an accent of the most pro- 

 found terror, " Save me, save me ! By the soul of thy father, save us, 

 and we will give thee gold !" 



" Gold enough to fill thy Tartan e," yelled the smugglers ; and they 

 implored his assistance with clasped hands, while three of them were 

 already stiffening in the last agony of death. 



" Heaven is deaf; invoke Satan," shouted the Gitano. 



" Away, away, blasphemer," replied the monk, and he raised him- 

 self, shuddering with renewed horror. 



The tide had now risen so much, that the waves broke over their 

 feet, and their clothes were saturated with the foam. 



" Invoke Satan, and I save you," again shouted the Gitano ; 

 " behind those rocks is a secret issue, masked by a moveable stone, 

 which will at once place you beyond the reach of the coast-guard." 



At this moment, although the douanniers were not visible, the 

 noise of the cocking of their muskets met the ears of the monk, who 

 no longer hesitated to obey the Gitano, exclaiming " Well, then, 

 Satan save us ; for you are, you can be, but Satan." 



" Satan save us ! save us \" shouted the band, with an accent of 

 indefinable terror ; then breathless, with fixed and eager eyes, they 

 expected the reply. 



" Seek the fissure nearest the path ; three feet to the left the rock 

 will give way, by pushing inwards and to the right at the same 

 time," returned the Gitano ; but ere the unhappy Spaniards could 

 rush to the spot, the coast-guard had reached the bottom of the path, 

 and the officer, seeing the smugglers advance, immediately formed his 

 men in platoon, exclaiming, " Fire, by San Jago, fire !" 



" But, captain," said one of the men, " I see a priest." 



" Horrible, impious disguise ! fire upon the apostate/' 



The monk received the ball in his breast, and fell upon his knees, 

 while the few smugglers, who had escaped the last volley, threw 

 themselves in the sea, and attempted ineffectually to gain the 

 Tartane." 



" My sons," murmured the unhappy monk, " I am a brother of 

 San Juan, sent hither by my superior; pity, in the name of Christ, 

 pity !" 



" How !" shouted the officer, " the infamous apostate still alive 

 fire, fire upon the miscreant." 



