The branch by which I supported myself, however, gave way beneath my grasp with a loud crash.

I lost my footing, and slipping downward from the rock, came plump into the stream below.

The noise, the splash, and more than all, the sudden appearance of a man beside him, astounded the Frenchman, who almost let fall his pannier, and thus we stood confronting each other for at least a couple of minutes in silence.

A hearty burst of laughter from both parties terminated this awkward moment, while the Frenchman, with the readiness of his country, was the first to open the negotiation.
"_Sacre Dieu!_" said he, "what can you be doing here?
You're English, without doubt." "Even so," said I; "but that is the very question I was about to ask you; what are you doing here ?" "_Eh bien_," replied the other, gayly, "you shall be answered in all frankness.

Our captain was wounded in the action of the 8th, and we heard had been carried up the country by some peasants.