and lit my pipe, and sat staring at the great
solemn bulk of the fortress, as it stood for the time being almost white
in the moonlight against the monstrous shadow of the bills. My mind
was in a miserable whirl, and I knew not what to make of anything. This
wretched state lasted until broad dawn, and I was still troubled by it
when I walked into the keen morning air, towel in hand, for my customary
swim. I undressed slowly by the river-side and stood thinking, until I
was so nipped by the keen breath of the wind which blew clear down from
the mountain-tops that I plunged into the stream for refuge from it. I
remember as distinctly as if it had happened a minute ago, that at the
very second when I dived an impulse came into my mind. I thought as I
struck the water, "I'll trust that fellow!" I dived far, and swam under
water until I was forced to rise for air. "I'll trust that fellow!" I
thought again; and as I passed my hand across my forehead to squeeze the
water from my hair, I saw "that fellow" on the very top of a little rise
of land which lay between me and the fortress, and hid it entirely from
my sight.

I swam back to the place from which I had originally dived, towelled
myself hastily, dressed, and set out at a round pace towards the bridge.
I reached it when he was within a hundred yards, and with a signal to
him to follow, sauntered on towards the pine wood.

A backward glance assured me that he had seen my signal and was coming.

CHAPTER V

"You gave me that last night," I said, holding the scrap of paper before
me. "You knew what was in it?"

"I didn't know, sir; I guessed. Poor gentleman's wife, sir? I thought
so, sir."

"Robert Hinge, you're an Englishman, and you've served your queen."

"And king as well, sir. King William was on the throne when I joined,
sir."

"How long have you known this unhappy gentleman, this Count Rossano, who
is imprisoned here?"

"Eight years and over."

The man stood bolt upright before me until I gave him the word to stand
at ease. I questioned him closely, and with a growing belief in him.
This was the substance of what I heard from him: He had been in General
Rodetzsky's service for a year or thereabouts when he first came to
visit the fortress. The stables in which the general's horses were
bestowed were in themselves beautifully tidy, but outside, immediately
beside the door, was a great heap of manure and rotten straw, the
accumulation of years, which w