As the man turned towards us in his bowings and bendings, Tam suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted at him a piece of schoolboy rudeness then fashionable in Kirkcaple.
'Wha called ye partan-face, my bonny man ?' Then, clutching his lantern, he ran for dear life, while Archie and I raced at his heels.
As I turned I had a glimpse of a huge figure, knife in hand, bounding towards us.
Though I only saw it in the turn of a head, the face stamped itself indelibly upon my mind.

It was black, black as ebony, but it was different from the ordinary negro.

There were no thick lips and flat nostrils; rather, if I could trust my eyes, the nose was high-bridged, and the lines of the mouth sharp and firm.

But it was distorted into an expression of such a devilish fury and amazement that my heart became like water.
We had a start, as I have said, of some twenty or thirty yards.

Among the boulders we were not at a great disadvantage, for a boy can flit quickly over them, while a grown man must pick his way.