hours, I will not attempt the impossible. Towards
evening some one fired a shot-gun just beyond the privet hedge.
Naturally the explosion caused me to jump, but that was nothing to the
fright I experienced when it struck me that it might be a small boy
out rat shooting, as vermin always run to a conveniently close heap of
sticks for shelter. However, the person did not come my way, and in
any case it is probable he was only after wild duck, which frequent
most of the dykes. At last, when I could stand it no longer, I
scrambled out into the dusk, guiltily ignoring the fact that I was
running an unnecessary risk by starting on the war-path an hour too
soon.

CHAPTER X

THE EMS

There was no one about, so, after enjoying a good stretch, I pushed
through the privet, jumped a narrow dyke, and started out over the
low-lying fields towards the high grassy barrier which advertised the
approach to the dreaded river. It was almost dark when I came to
another portion of the winding, snake-like barrier, which curved out
as if to meet me. Approaching it, I found that a thick and apparently
endless prickly May hedge grew along the base. Getting through it
proved to be such a painful proceeding that it seems probable that as
soon as the hedge saw an Englishman coming towards it, it sharpened
its claws and resolved to defend the way to the frontier to the last
thorn. Of course I may be wrong in my surmise, but I well remember
that, when I began extracting thorns afterwards, it was like plucking
a pin-cushion. Crawling on hands and knees up the slippery grassy
slope, I soon arrived at the top and, scrambling to my feet, looked
eagerly towards the unknown West. The grassy barrier rose to an even
height of about thirty feet above the low-lying country. On one side,
the nearer dykes dividing the fields showed up a dull white in the
semi-darkness; while on the other, beyond a narrow fringe of swaying
reed-grass, ran the broad dark river. Although a steady wind was
blowing, it was not quite as strong as on the previous night, the
noise of the ripples breaking on the shore not being so pronounced. As
I had not been dry for several days, the prospect of a prolonged bathe
was not at all alluring. The longer I looked towards the opposite bank
the more distant it appeared to be, and the greater became the width
and volume of the river, until it seemed to be quite impassabl