1. The moon was low in the west, and there was a pale glimmer of the
coming dawn in the sky, when Gilbert Potter suddenly raised his head.
Above the noise of the water and the whistle of the wind, he heard a
familiar sound,--the shrill, sharp neigh of a horse. Lifting himself with
great exertion, to a sitting posture, he saw two men, on horseback, in the
flooded meadow, a little below him. They stopped, seemed to consult, and
presently drew nearer.
2. Gilbert tried to shout, but the muscles of his throat were stiff, and
his lungs refused to act. The horse neighed again. This time there was no
mistake; it was Roger that he heard! Voice came to him, and he cried
aloud,--a hoarse, strange, unnatural cry.
The horsemen heard it, and rapidly pushed up the bank, until they reached
a point directly opposite to him. The prospect of escape brought a thrill
of life to his frame; he looked around and saw that the flood had indeed
fallen.
3. "We have no rope," he heard one of the men say. "How shall we reach
him?"
"There is no time to get one now," the other answered. "My horse is
stronger than yours. I'll go into the creek just below, where it's broader
and not so deep, and work my way up to him,"
"But one horse can't carry both."
"His will follow, be sure, when it sees me."
4. As the last speaker moved away, Gilbert saw a led horse plunging
through the water beside the other. It was a difficult and dangerous
undertaking. The horseman and the loose horse entered the main stream
below, where its divided channel met and broadened, but it was still above
the saddle girths, and very swift.
5. Sometimes the animals plunged, losing their foothold; nevertheless,
they gallantly breasted the current, and inch by inch worked their way to
a point about six feet below Gilbert. It seemed impossible to approach
nearer.
"Can you swim?" asked the man.
Gilbert shook his head. "Throw me the end of Roger's bridle!" he then
cried.
6. The man unbuckled the bridle and threw it, keeping the end of the rein
in his hand. Gilbert tried to grasp it, but his hands were too numb. He
managed, however, to get one arm and his head through the opening, and
relaxed his hold on the log.
7. A plunge, and the man had him by the collar. He felt himself lifted by
a strong arm and laid across Roger's saddle. With his failing strength and
stiff limbs, it was no slight task to get into place; and the return,
though less laborious to the horses, was equally dangerous, because
Gilbert was scarcely able to support himself without help.
"You're safe now," said the man, when they reached the bank, "but it's a
downright mercy of God that you're alive!"
8. The other horseman joined them, and they rode slowly across the flooded
meadow. They had both thrown their cloaks around Gilbert, and carefully
steadied him in the saddle, one on each side. He was too much exhausted to
ask how they had found him, or whither they were taking him,--too numb
for curiosity, almost for gratitude.
9. "Here's your savior!" said one of the men, patting Roger's shoulder.
"It was through him that we found you. Do you wish to know how?
Well--about three o'clock it was, maybe a little earlier, maybe a little
later, my wife woke me up. 'Do you hear that?' she said.
10. "I listened and heard a horse in the lane before the door,
neighing,--I can't tell you exactly how it was,--as though he would call
up the house. It was rather queer, I thought, so I got up and looked out
of the window, and it seemed to me he had a saddle on. He stamped, and
pawed, and then he gave another neigh, and stamped again.
11. "Said I to my wife, 'There is something wrong here,' and I dressed and
went out. When he saw me, he acted in the strangest way you ever saw;
thought I, if ever an animal wanted to speak, that animal does. When I
tried to catch him, he shot off, ran down the lane a bit, and then came
back acting as strangely as ever.
12. "I went into the house and woke up my brother, here, and we saddled
our horses and started. Away went yours ahead, stopping every minute to
look around and see if we followed. When we came to the water I rather
hesitated, but it was of no use; the horse would have us go on and on,
till we found you. I never heard of such a thing before, in all my life."
Gilbert did not speak, but two large tears slowly gathered in his eyes,
and rolled down his cheeks. The men saw his emotion, and respected it.
13. In the light of the cold, keen dawn, they reached a snug farmhouse, a
mile from the Brandywine. The men lifted Gilbert from the saddle, and
would have carried him immediately into the house, but he first leaned
upon Roger's neck, took the faithful creature's head in his arms, and
kissed it.
DEFINITIONS.--2. Pros'pect, ground or reason for hoping, antic-ipation. 5.
Breast'ed (pro. brest'ed), opposed courageously. 6. Numb, without the
power of feeling or motion. Re-laxed', loosened. 12. E-mo'tion, excited
feeling, agitation.