I had thought of making for the other wood, that in which I had saved
myself from the greyhounds when the beast Jack broke its neck against
the tree, but it was too far off, and the ground was so open that I did
not dare to try.
So I went straight on, heading towards the cliff. Another mile and
they viewed me, for I heard Tom yell with delight as he stood up in his
stirrups on the black cob he was riding and waved his cap. Jerry the
huntsman also stood up in his stirrups and waved his cap, and the last
awful hunt began.
I ran--oh! how I ran. Once when they were nearly on me I managed to
check them for a minute in a hollow by getting among some sheep. But
they soon found me again, and came after me at full tear not more than
a hundred yards behind. In front of me I saw something that looked
like walls and bounded towards them with my last strength. My heart was
bursting, my eyes and mouth seemed to be full of blood, but the terror
of being torn to pieces still gave me power to rush on almost as quickly
as though I had just been put off my form. For as I have told you,
Mahatma, I am, or rather was, a very strong and swift hare.
I reached the walls; there was an open doorway in them through which I
fled, to find myself in a big garden. Two gardeners saw me and shouted
loudly. I flew on through some other doors, through a yard, and into a
passage where I met a woman carrying a pail, who shrieked and fell on
to her back.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70