He determined at all hazards to get
her out of these men's hands. The girl made a sudden attempt to free
herself, slipped from the grasp that one of the men had of her shoulder,
dived between two others, and would have been off had not Simon seized her
by the arm. Guy sprung forward and threw himself on the butcher, and with
such force that Simon rolled over in the gutter.
"Run, run!" he shouted at the same moment to Katarina, who darted down a
lane to the left, while he himself ran forward and turned down the first
lane to the right with the three men in hot pursuit of him. Young, active,
and unencumbered by armour, he gained on them rapidly; but when he neared
the end of the lane he saw some five or six White Hoods, whose attention
had been called by the shouts of his pursuers, running to meet him. He
turned and ran back till close to those who had been following him, and
then suddenly sprung into a doorway when they were but three or four paces
from him. They were unable to check their speed, and as they passed he
brought his sword down on the neck of the one nearest, and as he fell to
the ground Guy leapt out and ran up the street again. He had gone but ten
paces when he met Simon, who rushed at him furiously with an uplifted axe.
Springing aside as the blow descended he delivered a slashing cut on the
butcher's cheek, dashed past him, and kept on his way. He took the first
turning, and then another, leading, like that in which he had been
intercepted, towards the river.
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