234 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



act in case of being discovered. At last an officer 

 and two orderlies came cantering along within 

 fifty yards of me. I took deliberate aim at them, 

 one after another, at a distance from which I could 

 have hit any button on their coats, and bounding 

 forward, seized the bridle of the officer's horse, 

 which was dragging his master's corpse along the 

 ground, as the foot and spur had caught in the 

 stirrup; and exchanging my turban for his flat 

 cap, and donning his long gray tunic over my OAvn 

 gear, I jumped on the horse and got clear off, just 

 as another group was seen approaching in the rear. 

 They must have heard the shots, and perhaps sus- 

 pected something, for they hailed me, and, I dare 

 say, d — d me to their heart's content in good Rus- 

 sian ; but I paid no heed to their shouting, and 

 made the best of my way towards the front, avoid- 

 ing any horsemen whom I encountered en route ^ as 

 I had no great faith in my disguise, and had only 

 two charges left in my six-shooter, with no 

 cartridges to reload. Passing to the right of the 

 group which I recognised as the one leading the 

 van of our pursuers, I drove my spurs in my horse, 



