f a particularly
watery-looking bog, which not only barred my way in front, but also
curved round on both flanks. In order to avoid this _cul-de-sac_ it
would have been necessary to make a wide detour, the accomplishment of
which would have involved the wasting of much valuable time. Selecting
a point where this strip of marshy ground appeared to be the
narrowest, I retreated a few steps, gathered myself together, and,
after a short run, attempted to take the bog by surprise and get
across before it was quite ready to receive me. Wallowing towards the
other side, I felt my feet sinking deeply into the decayed peaty moss,
which gurgled expectantly. I was almost over when suddenly, in a
second, I sank almost to my waist. Immediately throwing myself on my
face, I scrambled forward, and digging my stick into the firm ground
in front, pulled for all I was worth. I was almost free when my poor
stick broke off with a resounding crack, leaving the top half in my
hands. This I again drove into the firm ground, and with a final
effort, drew myself out. After a short rest, during which I mourned
the loss of my beloved stick, I went on my way determined not to risk
a passage over any deceitful bogs in the future unless it was
absolutely unavoidable. Very soon the heather became scarcer, and once
again I was among dykes and flat, misty, green fields.

For the next two or three hours I ploughed along towards the west,
climbing over barbed-wire fences and wading through dykes, unless I
was lucky enough to find a plank or small bridge spanning the latter.
Scarcely perceptibly the darkness of the eastern sky changed to a dull
cold grey and the landscape became clearer, revealing the bare
motionless arms of several windmills stretching out into the clearer
air, some distance away, in different directions. I roughly judged
that I could not be far from the frontier. I might even have crossed
it! Though I did my best to suppress undue optimism, this last rather
improbable idea persisted in occupying my thoughts. It is true I had
seen nothing recently on the way to arouse suspicion, but, owing to
the marshy nature of the country, the guards might well be few and far
between. The spirit of approaching dawn lent a faint tinge of colour
to the lonely sweeps of white mist drifting slowly above the flat dark
fields, and, settling down over the dykes, it commenced to unravel and
piece together the ghostly confusion of dim blurred shadows and
gros