Suddenly the carriage stopped. Anna drew a long breath of relief when the Finanzrath broke off his discourse and, opening the window, asked, anxiously, "What is the matter, John? Why do you not drive on?"
"I do not know, Herr Finanzrath," a voice from the box replied, "but I think something is wrong."
"What can be wrong?" It seemed to Anna that the Finanzrath's voice trembled as he asked the question. Was he, strong man as he was, so fearful of an accident that his fear betrayed itself in his voice? The sign of weakness instantly put an end to all Anna's dread of the Finanzrath. She felt strong, indeed, in view of his timidity. No possible danger of the road in the dark night had power to alarm her. All she had dreaded had been the tête-à-tête with her companion.
The coachman did not immediately answer; he slowly descended from the box, and not until the Finanzrath asked in a tone of still greater anxiety, "What has happened, John?" did he reply, sullenly, "Nothing has happened, Herr Finanzrath, but the devil himself could not find the way in this storm; you can't see your hand before your face. I thought we had got off the road and were going towards the Grünhagen quarry, but it is all right, and we can drive on."
"No, no, don't try, for Heaven's sake, John!" the Finanzrath exclaimed, in evident terror.
"Oh, it's all right," the coachman said, with great composure. "We must drive on; we can't spend the night here in this weather."
He mounted the box again and whipped up his horses, but the next instant there was a jolt, a crash! The wheels on one side of the carriage rolled over a stone, while those on the other sank deeper and deeper into the mud, the carriage leaned more and more to one side and finally upset.
Anna felt herself tossed to one side; her head struck against some hard object. She experienced a burning pain in her temple, and was near fainting, but the next moment recalled her to herself; she did not choose to faint, and her will was victorious.
The carriage had fallen upon the side where sat the Finanzrath. Anna heard him groan as he struggled to rise.
"Are you hurt?" she asked, anxiously.