hat the bridge across it was in a dangerous
condition, and that probably they would be compelled to wait till the
next day before they could cross. For such a delay they were unprepared,
having calculated on a good supper and a good bed that night under a
friendly roof in Rostov. Another reason for haste was the change in the
weather, which had suddenly turned cold; so, disregarding the
information given them, they continued to push forward until they
reached the bridge. There the signs of its insecure condition were too
numerous to be denied. Several carts stood unyoked, and peasants lay
beside them, calmly waiting for daylight. Then was repeated the bad news
which had already discouraged our travellers, and it seemed clear that
they would have to spend some hours in the britchka, exposed to the
chill night air, while, once on the other side, they could reach Rostov
in a couple of hours.

So influential a consideration carried the day. They would not halt;
they would cross the bridge--though not without taking all due
precautions. Alighting from the carriage, they allowed it to go forward,
the coachman driving slowly, while the Cossack, with his lantern,
pointed out all the dangerous places. "I do not think," says Madame de
Hell, "that in the whole course of my travels we were ever in so
alarming a situation. The danger was urgent and real. The cracking of
the woodwork, the darkness, the noise of waters dashing through the
decayed floor that bent and trembled under their tread, and the cries of
alarm uttered every moment by the coachman and the Cossack might well
have filled us with apprehension; yet I do not think that the thought of
death ever occurred, or, rather, my mind was too confused to formulate
any thought at all. Frequently the wheels sank between the broken
planks, and these were moments of terrible anxiety; but at last, by dint
of patient effort, we reached the opposite bank in safety, after a
passage of more than an hour. I could not have held out much longer; the
water on the bridge was over our ankles. The reader will understand with
what satisfaction we again took our places in the carriage. We were then
better able to realize the nature of the perils we had incurred, and for
a moment almost doubted our actual safety. For awhile we seemed to hear
the dash of the waters breaking against the bridge; but this feeling was
soon dispelled by others--the night's adventures were by no means at an
end.

"At s