d what I judged to be the edge of the
torrent, and felt with my stick that the water was here borne madly
onward, and at considerable depth. Though through the fog I could make
out the opposite bank, and see that the stream was not a wide one, I
plainly perceived that the current was far too powerful for me to breast
without assistance, and that no single passenger could attempt it
with safety. I may have stood half an hour thus, with the muddy stream
surging over my ankles, for I was stunned and stupefied by the danger,
when I thought I saw through the mist two gigantic figures looming
through the fog, on the opposite bank. When and how they had come there,
I knew not, if they were indeed there, and if these figures were not
mere spectres of my imagination. It was not till having closed my eyes,
and opening them again, I beheld the same objects, that I could fully
assure myself of their reality.

CHAPTER XL. I AM DRAGGED AS A PRISONER TO FELDKIRCH

The two great figures I had seen looming through the fog while standing
in the stream, I at last made out to be two horsemen, who seemed in
search of some safe and fordable part of the stream to cross over. Their
apparent caution was a lesson by which I determined to profit, and I
stood a patient observer of their proceedings. At times I could catch
their voices, but without distinguishing what they said, and suddenly I
heard a plunge, and saw that one had dashed boldly into the flood, and
was quickly followed by the other. If the stream did not reach to
their knees, as they sat, it was yet so powerful that it tested all the
strength of the horses and all the skill of the riders to stem it;
and as the water splashed and surged, and as the animals plunged and
struggled, I scarcely knew whether they were fated to reach the bank, or
be carried down in the current. As they gained about the middle of the
stream, I saw that they were mounted gendarmes, heavy men with heavy
equipments, favorable enough to stem the tide, but hopelessly incapable
to save themselves if overturned. "Go back,--hold in,--go back! the
water is far deeper here!" I cried out at the top of my voice; but
either not hearing, or not heeding my warning, on they came, and, as I
spoke, one plunged forward and went headlong down under the water,
but, rising immediately, his horse struck boldly out, and, after a few
struggles, gained the bank. The other, more fortunate, had headed up the
stream, and reached t