Rosalie was about to reply, when she was interrupted by a loud cry
from two of the gardeners, following on the sound of a body falling
into the water; she started, and ran off screaming, "Oh! father!"--The
Baron had disappeared.
In trying to reach a piece of granite on which he fancied he saw the
impression of a shell, a circumstance which would have contradicted
some system of geology, Monsieur de Watteville had gone down the
slope, lost his balance, and slipped into the lake, which, of course,
was deepest close under the roadway. The men had the greatest
difficulty in enabling the Baron to catch hold of a pole pushed down
at the place where the water was bubbling, but at last they pulled him
out, covered with mud, in which he had sunk; he was getting deeper and
deeper in, by dint of struggling. Monsieur de Watteville had dined
heavily, digestion was in progress, and was thus checked.
When he had been undressed, washed, and put to bed, he was in such
evident danger that two servants at once set out on horseback: one to
ride to Besancon, and the other to fetch the nearest doctor and
surgeon. When Madame de Watteville arrived, eight hours later, with
the first medical aid from Besancon, they found Monsieur de Watteville
past all hope, in spite of the intelligent treatment of the Rouxey
doctor. The fright had produced serious effusion on the brain, and the
shock to the digestion was helping to kill the poor man.
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