Clasping his sword hilt more
firmly in his hand he wheeled about with unexpectedness that evidently
took his follower by surprise, for he dashed across the street and sped
fleetly towards the river. The glimpse Wilhelm got of him in the open
space between the houses made him sure that he was once more on the
track of von Brent, the emissary of Treves. The tables were now turned,
the pursuer being the pursued, and Wilhelm set his teeth, resolved to
put a sudden end to this continued espionage. Von Brent evidently
remembered his former interception, and now kept a straight course.
Trusting to the swiftness of his heels, he uttered no cry, but directed
all his energies toward flight, and Wilhelm, equally silent, followed
as rapidly.
Coming to the river, von Brent turned to the east, keeping in the
middle of the thoroughfare. On the left hand side was a row of houses,
on the right flowed the rapid Main. Some hundreds of yards further up
there were houses on both sides of the street, and as the water of the
river flowed against the walls of the houses to the right, Wilhelm knew
there could be no escape that way. Surmising that his victim kept the
middle of the street in order to baffle the man at his heels, puzzling
him as to which direction the fugitive intended to bolt, Wilhelm, not
to be deluded by such a device, ran close to the houses on the left,
knowing that if von Brent turned to the right he would be speedily
stopped by the Main.
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