Afterward she was to feel that death would be most welcome, no matter how it came.
Her captors made the trip across the river in dead silence.

There was no moon and the night was inky black.

The exposed portions of her face tingled with cold, but she was so heavily wrapped in the blanket that her body did not feel the effects of the zero weather.
At length the icy stretch was passed, and after resting a few minutes, Sam proceeded to ascend the steep bank with her in his arms.

Why she was not permitted to walk she did not know then or afterward.

It is possible, even likely, that the men thought their charge was unconscious.