blind hope of striking it, I ran on.

Presently I came to the edge of a deep cut, and found that down below me
ran a road guarded on each side by a ditch of water fenced on either
side by a straight, high wall.

Getting fainter and dizzier, I ran on; the ground got more broken--more
and more still, till I staggered and fell, and rose again, and ran on in
the blind anguish of the hunted. Again the thought of Alice nerved me. I
would not be lost and wreck her life: I would fight and struggle for
life to the bitter end. With a great effort I caught the top of the
wall. As, scrambling like a catamount, I drew myself up, I actually felt
a hand touch the sole of my foot. I was now on a sort of causeway, and
before me I saw a dim light. Blind and dizzy, I ran on, staggered, and
fell, rising, covered with dust and blood.

'Halt la!

The words sounded like a voice from heaven. A blaze of light seemed to
enwrap me, and I shouted with joy.

'Qui va la?' The rattle of musketry, the flash of steel before my eyes.
Instinctively I stopped, though close behind me came a rush of my
pursuers.

Another word or two, and out from a gateway poured, as it seemed to me,
a tide of red and blue, as the guard turned out. All around seemed
blazing with light, and the flash of steel, the clink and rattle of
arms, and the loud, harsh voices of command. As I fell forward, utterly
exhausted, a soldier caught me. I looked back in dreadful expectation,