Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/339

Rh At last he took a club in his hands and moved cautiously across the road. He peered into the bushes, but was unable to perceive any cause for the startling sound. With his club he carefully parted the bushes and almost stepped back when he discovered something on the ground before him that instantly assured him his fears had not been without some foundation.

But what was it that he saw? At first Robert was unable in his excitement to determine whether it was the body of a man or of some beast. He thought of the similar experience he had had a few weeks before in the rear of Hannah's home, and grasping his club firmly in his hands pushed his way into the bushes until he stood over the prostrate body. And then he knew, for it was a man lying before him.

The upper part of the body had been stripped, and a thick coating of tar entirely covered it, and upon the tar a sack of feathers evidently had been thrown, so that the appearance of the man was scarcely human. A feeling of anger and of pity swept over Robert's heart; and for a moment, unmindful whether the man was an enemy or a friend, he was striving to think how he might be of