“Hallo! what’s that?” he cried, and springing up to the box, called out, “Drive on! drive on! It’s a wild beast! But I’ll have a shot at it,” he added, as the carriage rolled on, and turning partly round, he discharged his pistol into the tree.
The driver, with an imprecation, had called out to his companion not to fire; but he was too late, and at the report the horses affrighted, ran off at full speed. The ruffians within the carriage, as well as the one without, were instantly awakened to a full sense of their danger. They were all acquainted with the place, and knew that a short distance ahead, certainly not more than a third of a mile, the road inclined short to the left, to avoid an old quarry, which had a precipitous fall of 15 or 16 feet. As cowardly as base, each one thought only of his own safety. The ruffian in front clambered over the roof and leaped off from behind; the others forced open a door and precipitated themselves, one after the other, and all fell with violence and more or less injured to the ground.
Beside Miss Gillespie within the carriage, the driver alone remained, and he, with his feet pressed hard upon the foot-board, and with his body bent forward, bore his whole weight upon the reins. Although they passed with breathless velocity, he accurately noted every object along the road, and was prepared, at the critical moment, to turn the horses from the direction of the perilous chasm. With a quick eye and ready hand the instant that he saw the turn, with all his might he pulled upon the left hand rein. This over exertion ensured defeat, the rein snapped asunder with the strain, and the horses rushing headlong, were with the carriage precipitated over the bank. The driver fell upon some fragments of rock, and laid senseless and immoveable. The horses, by their moans, and the faint efforts they made to extricate themselves, showed that they were severely bruised. Miss Gillespie laid on the battered side of the carriage, partially revived from her swoon by the shock she had sustained and the excruciating pain she felt.