had nothing to do for a week."

"I have the advantage of riding so much lighter than you do," Hector
said; "weight tells both on horse and rider, and when the horse is tired
his pace soon adds to the weariness of his rider. If we had had to do
this work when we first left Paris, I have no doubt that I should have
felt it, but the journey here has been a fine preparation. Another thing
is, that every morning I take a dip in the first mountain stream I come
to, and that does one almost as much good as a night's sleep."

De Lisle shivered. "It may do good, Campbell, but I would not jump into
one of these icy streams for anything. It makes one shudder to think of
it."

"I always had a swim in the Seine every morning when it was not closed
by ice," Hector said. "I was told that there was nothing braced one up
and made one so hardy as that; and I certainly found that even in the
coldest weather I never felt the need of a cloak."

"Well, I don't deny that it may be a good custom, and if all Scotchmen
do it, it may account for their hardiness; but I like comfort when I can
get it."

"But it is not comfort to be always in the saddle, and to feel so sleepy
that you fancy that at any moment you may fall off. Even if a dip in
snow water is, to those unaccustomed to it, somewhat sharp, it is better
than having to struggle against sleep for hours."

"Well, possibly I may try the experiment some day when I feel that I
must either lie down by the roadside and sleep or take a dip, but until
I feel like breaking down altogether I shall postpone the experiment."

Turenne several times spoke approvingly to Hector. On one occasion,
when the lad presented himself on being told that an aide-de-camp was
required to carry a message, Turenne said to him: "But it is not your
turn, Campbell; de Lisle and Chavigny both returned some hours ago,
while it is not an hour since you came in."

"They are both asleep, general," Campbell said; "they have been
thirty-six hours in the saddle."

"But you have been more than that, Campbell?"

"But I do not feel it, sir," he said. "I am perfectly fresh and ready to
go on. I was a little tired when I came in, but I have taken a swim in
the river, and am now at your service."

Turenne hesitated. "You see, sir," Hector went on, "being of light
weight the horse does not feel it as he does that of a heavier man, his
pace continues light and elastic, and his spirit good, and that makes
all the difference