The movement was too sudden, the surprise too complete, not to give an ascendency to the invaders, of which they readily availed themselves.  The possession of the fortress was now in fact divided between them; and a mutual consciousness of their relative equality determined the two parties, as if by common consent, quietly to behold the result of the affair between the leaders.  They had once recovered their feet, but were both of them again down, Munro being uppermost.  Every artifice known to the lusty wrestlers of this region was put in exercise, and the struggle was variously contested.  At one time the ascendency was clearly with the one, at another moment it was transferred to his opponent; victory, like some shy arbiter, seeming unwilling to fix the palm, from an equal regard for both the claimants.  Munro still had the advantage; but a momentary pause of action, and a sudden evolution of his antagonist, now materially altered their position, and Dexter, with the sinuous agility of the snake, winding himself completely around his opponent, now whirled him suddenly over and brought himself upon him.  Extricating his arms with admirable skill, he was enabled to regain his knee, which was now closely pressed upon the bosom of the prostrate man, who struggled, but in vain, to free himself from the position.

The face of the ruffian, if we may so call the one in contradistinction to the other, was black with fury; and Munro felt that his violation of the flag of truce was not likely to have any good effect upon his destiny.  Hitherto, beyond the weapons of nature’s furnishing, they had been unarmed.  The case was no longer so; for Dexter, having a momentary use of his hand, provided himself with a huge dirk-knife, guarded by a string which hung around his neck, and was usually worn in his bosom:  a sudden jerk threw it wide, and fixed the blade with a spring.

It was a perilous moment for the fallen man, for the glance of the victor, apart from the action, indicated well the vindictive spirit within him; and the landlord averted his eyes, though he did not speak, and upraised his hands as if to ward off the blow.  The friends of Munro now hurried to his relief, but the stroke was already descending—­when, on a sudden, to the surprise of all, the look of Dexter was turned from the foe beneath him, and fixed upon the hills in the distance—­his blow was arrested—­his grasp relaxed—­he released his enemy, and rose sullenly to his feet, leaving his antagonist unharmed.

[Transcriber’s note:  The following chapter was misnumbered in the original book.  It is actually Chapter XIII.]

CHAPTER IX.

NEW PARTIES TO THE CONFLICT.

This sudden and unlooked-for escape of Munro, from a fate held so inevitable as well by himself as all around him, was not more a matter of satisfaction than surprise with that experienced personage.  He did not deliberate long upon his release, however, before recovering his feet, and resuming his former belligerent attitude.