There Was Not The Slightest Gleam Of Vitality In
His Countenance, Which For Colour And Rigidity Might Have Been Of
Stone, and which was as rude and battered as one of the stone heads
at Icolmkill, which have braved the
Winds of twelve hundred years.
I continued gazing on his face till I became almost alarmed,
concluding that life might have departed from its harassed and
fatigued tenement. On my shaking him rather roughly by the
shoulder he slowly awoke, opening his eyes with a stare and then
closing them again. For a few moments he was evidently unconscious
of where he was. On my shouting to him, however, and inquiring
whether he intended to sleep all day instead of conducting me to
Finisterra, he dropped upon his legs, snatched up his hat, which
lay on the table, and instantly ran out of the door, exclaiming,
"Yes, yes, I remember - follow me, captain, and I will lead you to
Finisterra in no time." I looked after him, and perceived that he
was hurrying at a considerable pace in the direction in which we
had hitherto been proceeding. "Stop," said I, "stop! will you
leave me here with the pony? Stop, we have not paid the reckoning.
Stop!" He, however, never turned his head for a moment, and in
less than a minute was out of sight. The pony, which was tied to a
crib at one end of the cabin, began now to neigh terrifically, to
plunge, and to erect its tail and mane in a most singular manner.
It tore and strained at the halter till I was apprehensive that
strangulation would ensue. "Woman," I exclaimed, "where are you,
and what is the meaning of all this?" But the hostess had likewise
disappeared, and though I ran about the choza, shouting myself
hoarse, no answer was returned. The pony still continued to scream
and to strain at the halter more violently than ever. "Am I beset
with lunatics?" I cried, and flinging down a peseta on the table,
unloosed the halter, and attempted to introduce the bit into the
mouth of the animal. This, however, I found impossible to effect.
Released from the halter, the pony made at once for the door, in
spite of all the efforts which I could make to detain it. "If you
abandon me," said I, "I am in a pretty situation; but there is a
remedy for everything!" with which words I sprang into the saddle,
and in a moment more the creature was bearing me at a rapid gallop
in the direction, as I supposed, of Finisterra. My position,
however diverting to the reader, was rather critical to myself. I
was on the back of a spirited animal, over which I had no control,
dashing along a dangerous and unknown path. I could not discover
the slightest vestige of my guide, nor did I pass anyone from whom
I could derive any information. Indeed, the speed of the animal
was so great, that even in the event of my meeting or overtaking a
passenger, I could scarcely have hoped to exchange a word with him.
"Is the pony trained to this work?" said I mentally.
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