Here they came to a stop and endeavoured to ascertain its width, but the little reflected light they had was deceptive, and it did not appear so broad as it was.
"Oh, I can jump it," exclaimed one.
"And so can I," said another. "I have done so before, and why should I not do so now."
This was unanswerable, and as there were many present, at least a dozen were eager to jump.
"If thee can do it, I know I can," said a brawny countryman; "so I'll do it at once.
"The sooner the better," shouted some one behind, "or you'll have no room for a run, here's a lot of 'em coming up; push over as quickly as you can."
Thus urged, the jumpers at once made a rush to the edge of the ditch, and many jumped, and many more, from the prevailing darkness, did not see exactly where the ditch was, and taking one or two steps too many, found themselves up above the waist in muddy water.
Nor were those who jumped much better off, for nearly all jumped short or fell backwards into the stream, and were dragged out in a terrible state.
"Oh, lord! oh, lord!" exclaimed one poor fellow, dripping wet and shivering with cold, "I shall die! oh, the rheumatiz, there'll be a pretty winter for me: I'm half dead."
"Hold your noise," said another, "and help me to get the mud out of my eye; I can't see."