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106 far, and the waggoner persuaded him to take his place beside Bertalda. The horse could be fastened behind.

"We are going down hill," said the man, "and that will be easy work for my greys." Thereupon the knight agreed and entered the waggon with Bertalda; the horse followed patiently behind, and the waggoner steadily and watchfully walked by the side.

Amid the stillness of the night, now that the darkness had fallen and the subsiding storm seemed to grow more and more remote, Huldbrand and Bertalda, in the pleasant sense of renewed security and a right happy escape, began to converse in low and confidential tones. Caressingly he rallied her on her daring flight, and she excused herself full humbly; but from every word she said there shone as it were a light which revealed amidst the darkness and mystery that her love was truly his. The meaning of her words was felt rather than heard, and it was to the meaning only that the knight responded. Of a sudden the waggoner gave a shout: "Step high, my greys," cried he; "lift up your feet! Step together and bethink ye who ye are!" The knight looked forth from the waggon and saw how the horses were stepping into the midst of a foaming stream; already they were almost swimming, while the waggon wheels turned and flashed like the wheels of a mill, and the driver had got up in front to escape the swelling waters.

"Why, what sort of road is this?" cried Huldbrand, "it goeth into the very middle of the stream!"