I came to a small swollen stream that rushed through the woods.

I had a vague hope that if I crossed this stream, I should be in safety from my pursuer; but I soon found that my hope was as false as it was vague.

I dashed across the stream, ascended a rising ground, and reached a more open space, where stood only great trees.
Through them I directed my way, holding eastward as nearly as I could guess, but not at all certain that I was not moving in an opposite direction.

My mind was just reviving a little from its extreme terror, when, suddenly, a flash of lightning, or rather a cataract of successive flashes, behind me, seemed to throw on the ground in front of me, but far more faintly than before, from the extent of the source of the light, the shadow of the same horrible hand.

I sprang forward, stung to yet wilder speed; but had not run many steps before my foot slipped, and, vainly attempting to recover myself, I fell at the foot of one of the large trees.