my feet whilst I crossed the swamp. It was rough, hard work, but there
was little danger, merely toil; and a short time took me to the dyke. I
rushed up the slope exulting; but here again I met a new shock. On
either side of me rose a number of crouching figures. From right and
left they rushed at me. Each body held a rope.

The cordon was nearly complete. I could pass on neither side, and the
end was near.

There was only one chance, and I took it. I hurled myself across the
dyke, and escaping out of the very clutches of my foes threw myself into
the stream.

At any other time I should have thought that water foul and filthy, but
now it was as welcome as the most crystal stream to the parched
traveller. It was a highway of safety!

My pursuers rushed after me. Had only one of them held the rope it would
have been all up with me, for he could have entangled me before I had
time to swim a stroke; but the many hands holding it embarrassed and
delayed them, and when the rope struck the water I heard the splash well
behind me. A few minutes' hard swimming took me across the stream.
Refreshed with the immersion and encouraged by the escape, I climbed the
dyke in comparative gaiety of spirits.

From the top I looked back. Through the darkness I saw my assailants
scattering up and down along the dyke. The pursuit was evidently not
ended, and again I had to choose my course. Beyond the dyke where I
stood was a wild, swampy space very similar to that which I had crossed.
I determined to shun such a place, and thought for a moment whether I