Using the bridle rein for a halter strap I tied him to the fence, and, sore all over and breathing hard from exertion, went back to discover what had become of Le Gaire.
The excitement of encounter had, for the instant, banished all recollection of the young woman hidden beneath the shadow of the grape arbor.

My entire mind had concentrated on the fight, which, even now, might not be ended.

I knew I had struck the fellow hard with the full, wide swing of the musket stock; I had both felt and heard the blow, and the impact had hurled him clear from the horse.

Beyond doubt he was helpless, badly hurt perhaps, and there suddenly came to me a fear lest I had actually killed him.

I had struck fiercely, impelled by the instinct to save myself, but I had had no desire to take the man's life.
I had no reason to like Le Gaire; I believed him a bully, a disagreeable, boasting cur, but he was something to Willifred Hardy, and I could not afford to have his blood on my hands.