i62 The Trotter. 



the water, and, as it were, edged the road ; but no wall protected 

 the road from the water, only a single rail extending along the 

 whole length. It was a nasty bit of road, to say the best of it, 

 even with a steady horse by daylight, for there were two sharp 

 turns to be made within a hundred yards ; and for a runaway horse 

 I don't think a more dangerous place could be found in England, 

 The backwater, when the stream was full, reached nearly on a level 

 with the top of the coping stone (in the spring floods the water 

 often came up into the road) ; and if a horse should by any accident 

 dash over that single rail, in an instant he was in ten feet of water — 

 the stream, when the mill was going, running down like a " mill- 

 race." Sam's horse never slackened his speed, but came on in mad 

 career right down to the water. He never tried to turn, but dashed 

 straight at the rail, which he breasted ; the rail gave way, and horse 

 and gig plunged headlong into the stream. Whenever Sam was 

 driving he invariably kept the apron unbuttoned on his side, to be 

 ready to spring out at a moment's notice. The consequence was, 

 that when the horse dashed up against the rail, he was thrown out 

 of the gig by the concussion, and although he pitched in the 

 water, he fell clear of the gig. His poor wife, however, was fast 

 in her seat, and no human power could save her. The mill was 

 going, the water came rushing down with an irresistible force, and 

 gig and horse were rapidly carried down the stream. The horse 

 fought bravely for a short time, but the heavy gig soon pulled 

 him down ; and the struggle, although violent, was a short one. 

 The moon was now completely obscured by heavy clouds, and 

 the night as dark as pitch. Sam, who was a strong swimmer, 

 struck out instinctively for life, and reached the opposite shore 

 (for the stream was narrow), but with some difficulty ; he dragged 

 himself up the bank, and then sank down exliausted in a kind of 

 swoon. Whilst he was battling against that angry current, nothing 

 could be seen through the murky pall that surrounded him. 



The waters hissed and bubbled in his ears, and he was deafened 

 with the roar of the stream as it came rushing and tumbHng down 

 the narrow channel under the mill wheel. But above all the din 



