, and
crossed the ditches which irrigated the fields on wooden bridges.

On their account, in the dense darkness which prevailed, caution was
necessary, and this the guide certainly did not lack. He rode at a slow
walk in front of the artist, and had just pointed out to him the light
at the landing place of the boat which went to Tennis, when Hermon was
suddenly startled by a loud cry, followed by clattering and splashing.

With swift presence of mind he sprang from his horse and found his
conjecture verified. The bridge had broken down, and horse and rider had
fallen into the broad canal.

"The Galatians!" reached Hermon from the dark depths, and the
exclamation relieved him concerning the fate of the Midianite.

The latter soon struggled up to the road uninjured. The bridge must
have given way under the feet of the savage horde, unless the Gallic
monsters, with brutal malice, had intentionally shattered it.

The first supposition, however, seemed to be the correct one, for as
Hermon approached the canal he heard moans of pain. One of the Gauls
had apparently met with an accident in the fall of the bridge and been
deserted by his comrades. With the skill acquired in the wrestling
school, Hermon descended into the canal to look for the wounded man,
while his guide undertook to get the horses ashore.

The deep darkness considerably increased the difficulty of carrying out
his purpose, but the young Greek went up to his neck in the water he
could not become wetter than he was already. So he remained in the ditch
until he found the injured man whose groans of suffering pierced his
compassionate heart.

He was obliged to release the luckless Gaul from the broken timbers of
the bridge, and, when Hermon had dragged him out on the opposite bank
of the canal, he made no answer to any question. A falling beam had
probably struck him senseless.

His hair, which Hermon's groping fingers informed him was thick and
rough, seemed to denote a Gaul, but a full, long beard was very rarely
seen in this nation, and the wounded man wore one. Nor could anything be
discovered from the ornaments or weapons of this fierce barbarian.

But to whatever people he might belong, he certainly was not a Greek.
The thoroughly un-Hellenic wrapping up of the legs proved that.

No matter! Hermon at any rate was dealing with some one who was severely
injured, and the self-sacrificing pity with which even suffering animals
inspired him, and which