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time as motionless as a statue At last, with deep enor said at the first thrust his dagger met

metal, but that the wound in his neck was deep Suppose it were merely a

flesh-wound? What shall I do? Shall I let him live?"

He was painfully undecided

"Impossible!" he said "It would be the death-warrant of both my master

and myself I must choose between his death and ours Ies me on--in truth, I have no choice One blow, and all is over! I er froer He shuddered, and a cry of horror escaped him

"Fatal position!" he exclaimed "To kill a man in cold blood! an innocent

man! What harm has poor Geronimo ever done me? Stab him! My heart fails

me--I cannot perpetrate such a cruelty And yet, and yet I must! The crime

horrifies me, but I have no alternative Only by the sacrifice of his life

can allows Fate irresistibly

pursues me; I am the slave of necessity--I must follohither it leads!"