"Go you first."
"No," answered Brother Merry; "go you first," thinking that if the water were too deep he would stay on the bank where he was. However, the saint waded through, and the water only reached to his knees; but when Brother Merry ventured, the stream seemed suddenly to increase in depth, and he was soon up to his neck in the water.
"Help me, comrade," he cried.
"Will you confess," said the saint, "that you ate the lamb's heart?"
The soldier still denied it, and the water got still deeper, until it reached his mouth. Then the saint said again—
"Will you confess, then, that you ate the lamb's heart?"
Brother Merry still denied what he had done, and as the saint did not wish to let him drown he helped him out of his danger.
They journeyed on until they came to a kingdom where they heard that the king's daughter lay dangerously ill.
"Holloa! brother," said the soldier, "here's a catch for us. If we can only cure her we shall be made for ever."
The saint, however, was not quick enough for Brother Merry.