"Steady
yourself, old boy, or you'll go overboard!" And the next moment the
wagon body sunk out of sight.
But it did not go down very far. The deepest part of the channel of
the stream had been passed, and with a bump the wheels struck the
bottom.
"Heavens!" exclaimed Buller, "we are aground."
"Aground!" exclaimed Podington, "Heaven be praised!"
As the two men stood up in the submerged wagon the water was above
their knees, and when Podington looked out over the surface of the
pond, now so near his face, it seemed like a sheet of water he had
never seen before. It was something horrible, threatening to rise and
envelop him. He trembled so that he could scarcely keep his footing.
"William," said his companion, "you must sit down; if you don't,
you'll tumble overboard and be drowned. There is nothing for you to
hold to."
"Sit down," said Podington, gazing blankly at the water around him, "I
can't do that!"
At this moment the horse made a slight movement. Having touched bottom
after his efforts in swimming across the main bed of the stream, with
a floating wagon in tow, he had stood for a few moments, his head and
neck well above water, and his back barely visible beneath the
surface.
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