'll back leather against iron for a foothold."

I saw the force of his advice, and, dismounting, I stepped cautiously
down into the stream. At first the rush of water carried me off my legs,
and if it had not been that I had firm hold of the reins, and that my
horse still stood on dry land, my share in the enterprise would in all
probability have been then and there over. As it was I succeeded in
regaining a foothold; but though the stream reached only to mid-thigh,
it swept along with such violence that I had all my work cut out
to stand against it. My horse, encouraged by hand and voice, came
tremblingly after me, and the others followed. The stiffest bit of all
the crossing lay at the point where the rush of water diverted by the
rock caught us, and here we were at the deepest. This spot once passed
we were under partial shelter, and from the centre of the stream the
bank rose so rapidly that in half a dozen yards we were scarcely knee
deep. We gained the farther bank and remounted, and then I called a
council of war.

"I have already gone over the ground we shall have to travel," I began,
"and we ought to be within three hours of safety. But the alarm has been
given, and we shall find every pass guarded. What is to be done?"

"Sir," said the count, "I have no claim upon you or your companions.
I thank you from my heart for your brave attempt in my behalf. But the
fates are against us. For my own part, I counsel that we resign the
struggle, and that you do your best to cross the frontier singly. I
shall not be taken alive."

"There is no going back," I answered. "It is no safer now to abandon the
enterprise than to go on with it. We are not likely to be intercepted
until we reach the pass. My advice is that we ride as far as we dare,
and then take to the hills on foot, avoiding the passes. We shall have a
scramble for it, but life and liberty are worth that."

"Neither life nor liberty should have been in danger," said Brunow,
sullenly. "It is your fault if they are, and if I lose either through
your folly, on your head be it."

I reminded him that we had laid our plans together, and that they had
had his full approval; but he was not in a mood to listen to reason, and
I got no answer from him but a grunt of anger and disdain. The council
of war had not served any very great purpose so far, and I turned
away with a touch of desperation in my mind. I rode on, and the others
followed. We skirted a wood which stre