The Newfoundland ran to his mistress, and, trembling with impatience, watched her while she tied some pebbles into her handkerchief. She threw it into the stream a little above the fall, and at the same moment Mervyn fell like a block into the lower basin and struck out swiftly from the edge. The handkerchief followed the current, reached the rocks, danced in an eddy for a minute, and then, shooting like an arrow past the smooth rock, swept in a mass of foam under the eyes of the dog, who seized it dexterously in his mouth, after which Mervyn returned proudly to the bank, where Mlle. Marguerite stood clapping her hands. This feat was performed several times with great success. At the sixth repetition, either because the dog started too late or because the handkerchief was thrown too soon, Mervyn missed it. The handkerchief, swept on by the eddies from the fall, was carried among some thorny brushwood that overhung the water a little farther on. Mervyn went to fetch it, but we were very much surprised to see him suddenly struggle convulsively, drop his booty, and raise his head towards us, howling pitifully. "My God! what has happened?" exclaimed Mlle. Marguerite. "He seems to be caught among the bushes. He’ll free himself directly, no doubt." But soon one had to doubt, and even to despair, of this issue. The network of creepers in which the dog had been caught lay directly below one of the mouths of the sluice, which poured a mass of seething water continuously on Mervyn’s head. The poor beast, half-suffocated, ceased to make the slightest effort to release himself, and his plaintive cries sounded more and more like a death-rattle. At this moment Mlle. Marguerite seized my arm, and whispered almost in my ear: "He is lost. It’s no use.... Let us go." I looked at her. Grief, pain, and her violent effort to control herself had distorted her pale features and brought dark circles under her eyes. "It is impossible," I said, "to get the boat down there; but if you will allow me, I can swim a little, and I’ll go and give a hand to the poor fellow." "No, no; don’t attempt it. It’s too far. And they say it’s very deep and dangerous under the fall." "You needn’t fear, mademoiselle; I am very cautious."