But we
hurried on and on, striving to make no noise, and yet the crackling of
wood beneath our feet seemed to us to sound like the noise of thunder.
At last, breathless, we halted to listen. We were already in sight of
the gray mist where lay the silent lake that held so many secrets. There
was not a sound. The guards had gone straight on, believing they had
driven us into that deadly bog wherein, if we had entered, we must have
been slowly sucked down and engulfed. They were surrounding it, no
doubt, feeling certain of their prey.
But we crept along the water's edge, until in the gray light we could
distinguish two empty boats--that of the guards and our own. We were
again at the spot where we had disembarked.
"Let us row to the head of the lake," suggested the Finn. "We may then
land and escape them." And a moment later we were all three in the
guards' boat, rowing with all our might under the deep shadow of the
bank northward, in the opposite direction to the town of Nystad.
We kept a sharp look-out for any other boat, but saw none.
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