After they had happily finished their task, without being discovered, we all went out, and one after the other crept through the hole. When it came to my turn, I stumbled, but got through, striking my knee, however, as I did so, against a small post, which was nearly buried in the ground. The blow was violent, but the pain soon disappeared. 70 We now found ourselves in a very narrow footpath, between the hedge and the wall of the fort, which we followed, and after some trouble, reached the principal street of the town. We hastened along, keeping among the trees, and at the end of a half hour found ourselves at the foot of a high mountain, which we were obliged to ascend.
VII.
We immediately began to climb up the hill, and endeavored, as far as possible, by means of the stars, our only guides, to direct our course due north. By the time we had reached the first eminence, I felt a stinging pain in my knee, which suddenly swelled up so much, and put me into such agony, that I could proceed only with the greatest difficulty. My companions, therefore, to my great vexation and concern, were obliged to halt every little while, that I might recover myself, and ease my injured limb.
Our intention was to reach, before daybreak, that portion of the hill which was covered with trees, in order to secure ourselves against the first attempts which the Japanese, who we now considered as our mortal enemies, might make to capture us. In our walks through the valleys which surrounded the town, these woods had not appeared to us to be very far off, but we saw now how much we had been deceived. One of the footpaths which we had remarked during the day as leading directly to them, we were unable to find in the thick darkness, which shrouded from our view objects only a few paces distant.
The only resource left to us was to keep ascending, which the unevenness of the soil, covered as it was with brushwood, rendered tedious and difficult. After three painful hours passed in this way, we came at last to the highest ridge of the mountain, and now imagined that we could go forward on the high level ground, without any great exertion. But fate had many obstacles and much trouble in store for us, that we knew not of. We had now got to a part of the mountain which in many places was covered with snow, and as we did not wish our trail to be visible to the Japanese, we were obliged to go first to the one side and then to the other, and often had to retrace our steps. In this way we expended our strength, and made very little progress. An hour before daybreak, we struck on a broad road, which led towards the north, and which was firm and almost free from snow. As we knew that we could now go on without the fear of leaving our footprints visible, we rejoiced not a little, and redoubled our speed. I still felt much pain in my knee and leg, but as we were now on level ground, it was not to be compared to what I endured whilst ascending the mountain. We believed that we must now reach the wood in a very short time, and had made up our minds to rest in one of its thickets, when suddenly a sailor who chanced to look back, exclaimed, “They are coming after us on horseback, with lanterns!” and immediately sprang into an opening by the road side. Startled by this exclamation, we looked round, and perceived some lights which seemed to be rapidly approaching us. Seeing that there was no time to be lost, we followed the sailor’s example. For a long way 72 the road led us down the mountain, without there being either tree or bush to afford us shelter, or screen us from our pursuers. Soon the day began to break. If there had been more light at that moment, the Japanese must inevitably have seen us from the surrounding heights, as there was nothing which could hide us from their sight. At length we reached the bottom of the ravine, which was surrounded by naked rocks. Deep snow covered it, and we could not find a single place where we could hide. It was now broad day, and we stood still for a moment, looking vainly in every direction, and much perplexed to know what to do. At length we discovered in the rocks an opening, which on examination, turned out to be a cave, but so small as to be hardly able to contain us all. Close to it was a water-fall, which coming down from the mountain, had hollowed out in the snow, directly before the entrance, a pit some ten feet deep. By the aid of a little tree we climbed into this cave, in which, however, we could not sit down, but were obliged to stand upright, squeezed together in a most uncomfortable way. As the bottom of our hiding-place was shelving, and covered with loose stones, we were obliged to change our positions with the greatest caution, for fear of rolling out, and in order to rest ourselves, we leaned first on one elbow and then on the other. However, we were now tolerably secure, for the cave could not be seen by any one who was not close to it.
We remained in this position until sunset, consulting, with drooping courage, on the best way to save ourselves. The day was clear and warm, but the rays of the sun did 73 not penetrate into the ravine, and the water-fall made the air so cold that our teeth absolutely chattered. We heard plainly the strokes of an axe in the surrounding forest, and as we ventured out in the evening, saw people on the mountains. Suddenly we heard a rushing sound as if some one was sliding down the mountain towards us. It came nearer and grew louder, and we thought that we should now soon see the soldiers who were seeking us. We prepared ourselves for a struggle, when behold a wild stag appeared, and as soon as he saw us, dashed quickly away.
As soon as the stars began to appear, we left our inconvenient hiding-place, and climbed up a high mountain, which in many places was overgrown with brushwood. My situation was now really dreadful. While in the cave I had held my leg in one position, and consequently, felt no great pain, but it returned as soon as I began to walk, and soon became almost intolerable. As we had still to cross many mountains, and in our case great haste was necessary, I saw clearly that I was keeping back my comrades, and most likely would be the cause of their re-capture. I, therefore, implored them to leave me to my fate, and think only of their own safety. But my entreaties had no effect on them whatever, except to render them most determined not to leave me. They swore they would stay by me whilst life remained, and that they were perfectly willing to rest whenever I wished it. Moreover, Makarov, the strongest of the sailors, entreated me to let him help me along, which he could do, if I would go behind him, and hold fast to his girdle. On hearing 74 this I determined to remain with my companions and allow myself to be dragged along by them.
After we had gone some distance from them, over rocky cliffs, and through deep ravines, we came to a couple of huts, from which came a whistling noise, such as, with us, the people use to charm quails, in order to capture them. We stooped down among the grass, and listened for a long while, in order to find out whether it came from a bird, or whether there were people in the huts. As it was not likely that many persons dwelt in such an out of the way place, we took courage, and went up to them; but when we drew near, we found out that what we had taken for huts, were in reality two heaps of wood. As we had not been able to gain a moment’s rest during the preceding day, we laid ourselves down on this spot, where we were protected from the wind and cold, and slept for two or three hours. Greatly refreshed, we started again on our journey, and by daybreak reached the top of a high mountain, which was covered with thick brushwood, and which far out-topped the surrounding hills. Here we determined to pass the day. As at sunrise a thick fog covered the tops of the mountains, we ventured to make a fire among the bushes to warm our limbs, stiffened with wet and cold. We placed on it a tea kettle, which, however, was not for the purpose of preparing tea, a luxury by no means within our reach, but to warm our dry and mouldy rice, in order to render it palatable. We searched, also, for wild herbs, but nothing eatable was to be found any where, for on the heights winter reigned despotic. We melted some snow for a drink, and made a meal of our rice, which was 75 already nearly putrid. In the meantime, black clouds were rising in the east, the wind howled through the trees, and every thing indicated that a storm was fast approaching. As we concluded that none of the Japanese would venture among the mountains in such weather as this, we determined not to wait for the approach of night, but to continue our journey during the day. After we had passed through a deep ravine, and waded through a stream of water, the road again led us up the mountain, and we had already reached a tolerable height, when suddenly a high and steep rock towered up directly in front of us, which could not be ascended without great difficulty and danger, and yet there was no way of avoiding it. Up we went, I holding fast to the girdle of Makarov, who had nearly reached the top, when he was obliged to free himself from my grasp, in order to climb up a very steep part of the rock just at the top. I braced the toes of my uninjured foot against a projecting stone, wound my right arm round a young tree, which curved up from below, and in this position waited until Makarov had reached the summit, from which he could assist me to mount up to him. But this Hercules of a man was now so fatigued and overcome that he had hardly strength to swing himself to the top of the rock, where he lay as if dead. At this moment the stone, against which I was resting, gave way, and rolled down the mountain, leaving me swinging by one hand, and totally unable, on account of the smoothness of the rock, to get a resting place for my feet. The other sailors, it is true, were not far from me, but they were all so fatigued as to be totally unable to come to my assistance. In this 76 fearful situation I passed several minutes, and my hand began to pain me so intolerably that I was tempted to let go my hold, and have my sufferings ended by being dashed to pieces on the rocks, a hundred fathoms below me.
But at this moment Makarov recovered himself, and seeing the danger I was in, prepared to help me. He braced his left foot against a stone, which projected from the rock directly opposite to my breast, grasped the branches of the tree to which I was clinging, and let me seize his girdle with my unoccupied hand. Then, with a great exertion of strength, he dragged me to his side, and again fell back almost senseless. Had the stone, on which he stood, given way, or the bough he grasped broken, we should both have been inevitably dashed to the ground. After we had rested for some time on the top of the rock, we continued our fatiguing journey until nightfall. We then encamped on a part of the mountain which was overgrown with reeds, and immediately made a fire to prepare our evening meal, which this time consisted of wild leeks and other herbs, collected along the banks of the stream we had waded through. We then dried our clothes, and lay down to rest in a tent hastily constructed of reeds. Want of sleep, and the great fatigue we had undergone, soon closed our eyes, and we slept soundly. After a few hours I awoke, and found the hut so uncomfortably hot that I went out into the open air. I leaned against a tree which grew near by, and thought over our probable fate. The sublime picture of nature first attracted my attention. The sky was clear, but below us and among the mountains rolled dark masses of clouds; it was most probably 77 raining in the valleys. The snow which lay on the mountains glittered brightly in the distance, and never before had I seen the stars shine forth so clearly as they did on that night. A death-like silence prevailed, or was broken only by the sighing of the breeze as it swept softly by. But the beauty and sublimity of this spectacle suddenly vanished, as the thoughts of our situation came thronging upon me, clothed with the most fearful shapes. Six men on one of the highest of the Japanese mountains, without sufficient food, clothing, or even weapons to defend themselves from the attacks of wild animals; possessing neither knowledge nor ability to construct any kind of a vessel in which they might escape, and one of them, moreover, with a wounded leg, which at every step, pained him dreadfully. When I thought of this, our helpless position, my feelings bordered on despair. Whilst I was occupied with these sad thoughts, some of my companions awoke, and their sighs and prayers affected me so deeply that I forgot myself, and shed scalding tears. In this way an hour passed by, but the cold night air finally forced me to seek shelter in the hut, where I lay down, but not to sleep.