"I did, herr; but it was impossible to face the water. It rushed down
so fiercely that, as it grew deeper and from wading knee deep I was
going along with the water at my waist, I had to cling sometimes to the
ice above my head to keep from being swept away."

Saxe drew a long breath.

"I went on, herr, cheered by the knowledge that every step I took was
one nearer to liberty; and now, though the water was all melted ice, I
did not feel so cold, till suddenly my feet slipped away from under me,
and I felt as if something had given me a heavy push in the back. Then
I was under the water, and found that I was gliding round and round. I
don't know how many times, for it was like being in a dream, till I was
once more where the water swept me down under the ice arch.

"There, I can tell you little more, except that it was all wild
confusion, that the roar of the water seemed to crash against my ears
till I was once more in a shallow place; and as I struggled to get my
breath, I came to what seemed to be a bar, panting heavily till I could
turn a little, and I found that the bar to which I clung was the handle
of my ice-axe lying across two masses of stone, between which the waters
roared.

"I felt that I could go no farther, and that if I attempted to pass
through that narrow gateway of stone it would be to my death, so I
forced myself sidewise till I found myself free from so much pressure,
and, stretching out my ice-axe, I felt about till I could hook it on to
ice or stone; and as I drew myself along by the handle the water grew
less deep, then shallower still; and as I made my way it was over stones
among which water ran, and I felt about with my axe, puzzled, for it was
so strange. There was the water running over my feet, but gently, and
the rushing river a little way behind. What did it mean? why was it so?
Those were the questions I asked myself till the light came."

"Ah! it began to get light?" cried Saxe.

"In my brain, herr," said Melchior, smiling; "and I knew that this was a
little side stream coming down some crack beneath the ice, one of the
many that help to make the other big.

"As soon as I understood this I stopped, for I knew that the opening to
these rivers would grow smaller and smaller, and that it would be of no
use to go up there if I wanted to escape. So, wading along, I tried to
reach the wall, to lean against it and rest before going back to the
torrent, knowing as I did that this m